Kerry supporters seek therapy . . .

http://www.bocanews.com/index.php?src=news&prid=10127&category=Local%20News%20%20&PHPSESSID=dbedc967e0ac261e440983dcdc5d7660

Kerry supporters seek therapy in South Florida
Boca Raton trauma specialist has treated 15 patients
 
Published Tuesday, November 9, 2004
by Sean Salai


More than a dozen traumatized John Kerry supporters have sought and received therapy from a licensed Florida psychologist since their candidate lost to President Bush, the Boca Raton News learned Monday.
Boca Raton trauma specialist Douglas Schooler said he has treated 15 clients and friends with “intense hypnotherapy” since the Democratic nominee conceded last Wednesday.
“I had one friend tell me he’s never been so depressed and angry in his life,” Schooler said. “I observed patients threatening to leave the country or staring listlessly into space. They were emotionally paralyzed, shocked and devastated.”
Schooler’s disclosure comes after the weekend discovery of a Kerry volunteer’s corpse at Ground Zero in New York City. Georgia resident Andrew Veal, 25, reportedly killed himself with a shotgun blast to the head due to Kerry’s loss and a girlfriend problem.
Some mental health professionals in South Florida said Monday they have already developed a new category for the Kerry-related stress reactions. Because Palm Beach County voted heavily for Kerry, the therapists said, many residents hurt themselves by so anxiously expecting the Massachusetts senator to win – especially those who maintained unrealistic recount hopes after their candidate’s concession.
“We’re calling it ‘post-election selection trauma’    and we’re working to develop a counseling program for it,” said Rob Gordon, the Boca-based executive director of the American Health Association. “It’s like post-traumatic stress syndrome, but it’s a short-term shock rather than a childhood trauma.”
Gordon, the first American Red Cross psychotherapist sent to Ground Zero after the 9/11 terror attacks, said therapists’ main concern is to prevent the recurrence of Kerry-related suicides like the one in New York City.
“There are definitely people depressed by John Kerry’s loss, and this can easily lead to suicides like the one we saw up in New York this weekend,” Gordon said. “Luckily, it can be treated if people seek help. We’re urging people to call us immediately if they feel depressed or know anyone who is seriously stressed out.”
Also in Boca, at least one counseling center and an emotional support group were preparing for an influx of Kerry supporters at their first post-election meetings today.
“We’ll let the Kerry voters talk about it and let off some steam, and by listening to other people’s stories, we’ll help them refocus and surrender to the things in their life which they can’t possibly change,” said a spokeswoman for Emotions Anonymous, a recovery group meeting tonight at Glades Presbyterian Church.
“We’re referring people with election-related stress to the Democratic National Committee,” said Karen Jacobs of the Center for Group Counseling. “We’ll do what we can for anyone who shows up for our support group programs this week, but we haven’t implemented a specific program for Kerry-related trauma.”
Schooler, practicing in Boca since 1984, said he treated his 15 patients last week with hypnosis-based rapid response trauma therapy. This week, he is charging a sliding fee to non-clients who feel they need the one-time “election therapy” session. South Floridians can contact him at 561-395-3033.
“A lot of Kerry voters don’t know what to do with their anger, because there was no recount, so they’ve kept it bottled up,” said Schooler, who also is a certified sex therapist. “I help them transform the anger into more positive emotions.”
Asked to describe symptoms of the post-election trauma, Schooler said, “They include feelings of extreme anger, despair, hopelessness, powerlessness, a failure to function behaviorally, a sense of disillusionment, of not wanting to vote anymore – that sort of thing. We’re talking about a deep, unhealthy personal suffering that can best be remedied by intensive short-term therapy.”

This is absolutely sick . . . and incredibly funny.

Too funny...  and people wonder why we refer to them as kooks?

So I guess 15 patients from the retirement homes of Boca Raton makes all Kerry supporters "kooks?"  Nice.  :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Coredweller
So I guess 15 patients from the retirement homes of Boca Raton makes all Kerry supporters "kooks?"  Nice.  :rolleyes:

I will not generalize to that point but the whining and crying that I am seeing from the left is laughable and a bit sad. It is a clear indication, in my opinion, that the left will not learn its lesson and will keep the Republican steamroller moving along.

I don\'t understand your connection between "whining and crying" and "not learning a lesson."  What do those have to do with each other?  What is this lesson we are supposed to learn?

Originally posted by Ace
I will not generalize to that point but the whining and crying that I am seeing from the left is laughable and a bit sad. It is a clear indication, in my opinion, that the left will not learn its lesson and will keep the Republican steamroller moving along.

Exactly Ace.  You should see DU and all the crying and whining over there.  No offense Core - but a good portion of the left is just plain nutty.

Warning Crybaby Content

Originally posted by Coredweller
I don\'t understand your connection between "whining and crying" and "not learning a lesson."  What do those have to do with each other?  What is this lesson we are supposed to learn?

The two are connected because it\'s the same kind of mindset that allows the left to snuggle up to Michael Moore or calling red states ignorant or saying the blue states should secede from the rest of the country. Crying and whining is only proving the point that the Dems can\'t connect with enough people to win.

Been trolling, Giga?

Originally posted by Ace
The two are connected because it\'s the same kind of mindset that allows the left to snuggle up to Michael Moore or calling red states ignorant or saying the blue states should secede from the rest of the country. Crying and whining is only proving the point that the Dems can\'t connect with enough people to win.

If I recall correctly, George Bush won Ohio by 136,000 votes, Iowa by 13,498, and New Mexico by 8,333.  Not anything for the Republicans to crow about, in my opinion.  Also not evidence that the sky has fallen on the Democratic party.

Originally posted by Coredweller
Also not evidence that the sky has fallen on the Democratic party.

Can you please send out a memo to the all the chicken littles in the dem party?

I am not registered at DU - I like keeping an eye on the enemy from time to time though.  Most of what they post is good for a laugh - especially that post from the "Toilet Lady" that I linked to above.  Honestly - you have to admit she is pretty pathetic.  So upset about the election she can\'t stop an overflowing toilet!

Core you didn\'t want Bush to win, but when he did your brain didn\'t short circuit - and for that matter from what I can tell no one in this forum is as nutty as that woman or the posters over at DU.  Unfortunately, quite a few on the internet are:

Like these wimps

Though this one is a hottie...

Who cares if people are a little upset right now?  It\'s only been one week since the election.  My point is that the outcome could have very easily been different.  If it had not been raining over most of Ohio on 11/2, things might have been different.  That\'s how close it was.

If your measurement for success is reliably winning elections, then any claim that the Republicans are clearly doing something RIGHT, or that the Democrats are completely out of touch with reality and doing something WRONG is bullshit.  Everyone keeps talking about how the Democrats need to do something different to connect with middle america.  That\'s probably true.  What I don\'t hear is anyone saying what the Republicans need to do to connect with the west coast and New England.  If they don\'t want to risk losing the next election due to a change in the weather, they should be thinking about that as well.

1) People getting depressed over Bush\'s re-election are lame.  I could see it happening though with all the people so passionate about getting Bush out of office.  Though they should have seen this coming a mile away.

2) Being a sore winner is lame too, no need to keep pushing their loss in their faces.

[GmanJoe]

I\'m not a sore winner. I just smile a lot more. See? ---->

....

Because elections stir up emotions, and emotions can range from good to very bad, this is not unexpected or "Stupid".