Psychotherapist says Trump Derangement Syndrome is real mental issue
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Manhattan-based psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert told Fox News on Friday that “Trump Derangement Syndrome” (TDS) is a real psychological problem he’s seen firsthand in his practice, with three-quarters of his patients showing symptoms.
In an interview with “The Faulkner Focus,” Alpert said patients arrive at his office exhibiting signs of mental distress stemming from fear or anger toward President Donald Trump.
“This is a profound pathology, and I would even go so far as to call it the defining pathology of our time,” Alpert said.
TDS is a term often used by Trump supporters to belittle hysterical or irrational critics of the president.
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According to one psychotherapist, many Americans suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, which he argues is a real pathology. (Andrew Harnik/Getty)
Alpert described some of the symptoms he observed in patients he believed were suffering from TDS.
“It doesn’t take me long to figure this out: People are obsessed with Trump, obsessed with Trump, overly obsessed with Trump. And they talk about some of the characteristics of this disorder; they can’t sleep, they feel traumatized by Mr. Trump, they feel restless,” he said.
“I had a patient who said she couldn’t enjoy the holidays because she felt triggered when she saw Trump on the news or on her device,” he added.
Alpert explained that for these patients, the mere mention of Trump or the image of Trump triggers intense mental distress.
“And Trump is a trigger for a lot of these people, and it’s not healthy to be so fixated on one figure, one person,” he said.
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Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert speaks on Fox News Channel. (Fox News Channel)
In an opinion piece he wrote For The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Alpert detailed how, in his view, this pathology arises.
“Clinically, this presentation is consistent with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders: persistent, intrusive thoughts, emotional dysregulation, and impaired functioning. Patients describe sleepless nights, compulsive news checking, and physical agitation. Many admit they cannot stop thinking about Donald Trump even if they try,” he wrote.
“Call it ‘obsessive political preoccupation,’ an obsessive-compulsive spectrum presentation in which a political figure becomes the focus of intrusive thoughts, increased arousal, and compulsive monitoring,” Alpert added.
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President Donald Trump walks from Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Washington. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
The psychotherapist said he initially thought TDS was an ideological response to a political figure with whom they disagreed. But he noticed that “the symptoms took a more clinical form.”
“What once seemed like anger now appears as an obsession that distorts perception and consumes attention,” he wrote.
Alpert added that about three-quarters of his current patients show symptoms of TDS.
“Three-quarters of my patients will show many of these symptoms, and their hatred for Trump will come out within probably five minutes of seeing me,” he told Faulkner. “So if you’re so focused on Trump, that’s a real problem.”
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Trump himself has frequently accused Democrats and his enemies in the media of harboring TDS.
