"Now she refers to him as “my man Donald.”

[kpete]

Dear Prudence,

I am in my late 20s and tend to lean to the left politically. My mother, who is in her late 50s, was never very political until Donald Trump spewed his venomous ideas about immigration. Now she refers to him as “my man Donald.” My mother works as a nurse in a clinic that caters to a mostly poor population, many of whom are Hispanic. She now thinks that anyone who speaks Spanish or who is of Latino origin is an illegal immigrant. She constantly posts things on Facebook like “When my man Donald is President, I won't have to deal with anymore illegals and anchor babies at [name of her workplace.]” I keep warning her that she could be fired for that, which would be especially bad because she would lose her pension and is less than five years away from retirement, but she rebukes me. She speaks like this in public, trying to get people to react or agree. It makes me sick. I am a teacher and work with a poor Hispanic population. I love all of my kids and know their day-to-day struggles; I try so hard to be a positive role model in their lives and someone they can trust. My mother speaks her hateful views more each time I talk to or am around her. It’s gotten to the point where I cannot stand to be around my mother anymore. Can you offer any advice on how to deal with her or what to do to avoid her? I can’t imagine living this way until next year’s election

—Democrat Daughter

Dear Daughter,

Since your mother has such contempt for the people she is supposed to serve, it might be good for everyone if she lost her job. I am baffled at the polling numbers for Donald Trump, raging narcissist, but in your mother’s case, it sounds as if her political awakening could be a possible sign of a medical problem. If a previously apolitical person is mouthing off and posting on social media in a way that disparages her patients and puts her job and financial future in jeopardy, then something is off. You are describing a fairly drastic change in personality, so I think it’s worth persuading your mother to get a complete checkup. Please do let us know if the cause of her crush on the Donald is a brain tumor. (Note to Donald: I’m not menstruating.) But if Mom is fine and she’s just responding to Trump’s fantasies of an America sans Spanish speakers, then you need to have a blunt talk with her. Tell her what she’s been saying makes you sick, and you and your mother need to agree to go back to Donald-free discussions or else you two are on hiatus until Trump is no longer politically relevant. Add that if he’s elected president, you will endure an epic gloating session. Say that you’re cutting off your social media connections to her so you don’t have to read her rants. Explain to her that of course she’s entitled to her own views, but when she expresses them publicly, and especially electronically, she’s potentially creating grounds for dismissal and the loss of her pension. Let her know that if that happens, you will be unable to financially bail her out. Let’s hope “her man” craters soon for her sake, yours, and the country’s.

—Prudie

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/dear_prudence/2015/09/dear_prudence_my_mother_s_support_for_donald_trump_is_jeopardizing_her_job.html

[Chemisse]

1. Perhaps there is an upsurge in brain tumors.

Since there sure are a whole lot of people who've fallen for The Donald.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. I just pictured them opening the skull of a Trump supporter to discover ingrown hair.

[yardwork]

2. Sounds like mom is experiencing burn out.

That or early dementia.

[csziggy]

3. It's a form of mass hysteria - just like when crowds see UFOs

Or apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Or when they see witches everywhere and burn people at the stake.

Mass Delusions and Hysterias: Highlights from the Past Millennium
Feature
Robert E. Bartholomew and Erich Goode
Skeptical Inquirer Volume 24.3, May / June 2000

Over the past millennium, mass delusions and hysterical outbreaks have taken many forms. Sociologists Robert Bartholomew and Erich Goode survey some of the more colorful cases.

The turn of the second millennium has brought about, in the Western world at least, an outpouring of concern about cosmic matters. A major portion of this concern has taken a delusional, even hysterical turn, specifically in imagining an end-of-the-world scenario. “The end of the world is near,” predicts Karl de Nostredame, supposedly the “last living descendent” of Nostradamus; "White House knows doomsday date!” he claims (Wolfe 1999, 8). Against this backdrop, it seems an appropriate time to survey a sample of social delusions and group hysterias from the past millennium. Given the enormous volume of literature, we will limit our list to the more colorful episodes.

The study of collective delusions most commonly falls within the domain of sociologists working in the sub-field of collective behavior, and psychologists specializing in social psychology. Collective delusions are typified as the spontaneous, rapid spread of false or exaggerated beliefs within a population at large, temporarily affecting a particular region, culture, or country. Mass hysteria is most commonly studied by psychiatrists and physicians. Episodes typically affect small, tightly knit groups in enclosed settings such as schools, factories, convents and orphanages (Calmeil 1845; Hirsch 1883; Sirois 1974).

<SNIP>
Zeitoun, Egypt, 1968-1971

From April 1968 to May 1971, more than 100,000 people reported observing Virgin Mary apparitions above a Coptic Orthodox Church at Zeitoun, Egypt. Witnesses' descriptions varied between two main types: small bright, short-lived lights nicknamed “doves,” and more enduring, less intense, diffuse patches of glowing light (Johnston 1980). Canadian neuropsychologist Michael Persinger of Laurentian University and his American colleague John Derr (1989) analyzed seismic activity in the region from 1958 to 1979, and found an unprecedented peak in earthquakes during 1969. They state that “The 'narrow' window of significant temporal relationship between luminous phenomena and earthquakes is within the classic time frame of more acceptable antecedents (e.g., microseismic activity) of imminent earthquake activity.” It appears that the Marian observers were predisposed by religious background and social expectation to interpreting the light displays as related to the Virgin Mary.

More: http://www.csicop.org/si/show/mass_delusions_and_hysterias_highlights_from_the_past_millennium/

[olddots]

4. tRump has that Jim Jones charisma

[gregcrawford]

5. And he must have a shitload of KoolAid...

... seein' how he so rich and all.

[treestar]

6. It is apparent she's not a great nurse

She considers her patients people she has to deal with and expresses that when it comes to some of them, she would rather not.

She'd be disappointed in Trump as POTUS because he could not deport "anchor babies" just on his own say so.

So she's ignorant of the constitution also.

[Omaha Steve]

7. You are describing a fairly drastic change in personality

http://www.theaftd.org/understandingftd/disorders/bv-ftd

Emotional Symptoms

Lack of insight into the person’s own behavior develops early. The patient typically does not recognize the changes in his or her own behaviors, nor do they exhibit awareness or concern for the effect these behaviors have on the people around them, including loved ones.

Emotional blunting develops early in the course of the disorder, and is manifested as a loss of emotional warmth, empathy and sympathy, and development of what appears to be indifference toward other people, including loved ones.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. People need to be retaught actual HISTORY....

There is something really WRONG with white people. They actually believe we fought a war with Mexico that ended with all of the Mexicans being driven over the border and white people taking over. This explains why they believe Latinos don't belong here and they should go back where they belong.