Online videos, comments, and some university policies have made crystal clear that Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is a real mental health issue.

It’s been over a week since the election, and the tide of self-indulgent angry videos posted on social media has not receded. Nearly all of these featured young women sobbing and cursing because the Harris-Walz ticket was demolished in the presidential race. In one short-form video, a woman was throwing herself about so violently inside of her car that whiplash seemed a certainty. Another stared into the camera, eyes dead as those of a corpse, and hurled the F-bomb at all the various groups she thought had supported Trump. Another wept copiously saying that she was too broken to go to work, then ended by saying “I want my mom, but she voted for HIM!”

Some women shaved their heads in protest of the Republican victory, lopping off their tresses as a form of protest against the male patriarchy. Others vowed to band together, remaining celibate and unmarried, and refusing to have children to stick it to the GOP.

Meanwhile, universities reached out to console students suffering emotional damage from the election by arranging “safe spaces” where they could sip hot cocoa and relieve their angst with Legos and coloring books. At Washington’s University of Puget Sound, for example, more than a dozen post-election wellness events were on the schedule.

Some in the corporate media were also visibly affected by the election’s outcome. They choked up, went ballistic, or were simply dumbfounded by the fact that a majority of the American people had rejected Kamala Harris, and by extension, the news outlets themselves. Movie stars, musicians, and other celebrities joined this lachrymose crew, throwing out wild accusations and issuing solemn “statements.” In a repeat of Trump’s 2016 victory over Hilary Clinton, some of these fair-weather patriots even threatened to leave the United States. 

Judging by the online comments, these folks, especially the weeping girls of TikTok and X, were amusing in their way, but it’s also apparent that some of them sound genuinely mad.

So, here goes.

Stop believing your own propaganda. Get out of the house and venture outside your own circle of friends. Engage with political opponents as human beings. Start with that uncle you dissed last year at Thanksgiving or that friend who expressed reservations about voting for a party that seemed without any program except abortion and open borders. Ask them what they’re looking for in a candidate. Bring a hearty skepticism to MSNBC and other media outlets.  

Ditch the narcissism. What you’re putting online will likely stay online. All those tears and obscenities may come back to haunt you if some future employer or potential spouse happens to run across your work as an amateur filmmaker. When you film yourself in this state of watery rage or despair, most people watching you find you either hilarious or pitiable. Sob if you must, but do it in the privacy of your own home.

Avoid making politics your god. Like the golden calf, that idol can be melted down and ground into dust. During the run-up to the election, J. D. Vance offered a bit of wisdom you should etch into your psyche: “Whether you vote for me and Donald Trump, whether you vote for Kamala Harris, don’t cast aside family members and lifelong friendships. Politics is not worth it. I think, if we follow this principle, we heal the divide in this country.” 

Avoid giving your emotions greater weight than reason. A case in point: Donald Trump has already served a term in office, during which time both he and the country experienced some successes. Yet his opponents labeled him a fascist, a second Hitler. A simple look back at Trump’s four years in the White House should negate this opinion. A century ago, “THINK” became the motto of IBM. Make it yours as well.

Practice negative visualization. In A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy, William B. Irvine introduces this concept, writing “It is, I think, the single most valuable technique in the Stoics’ psychological tool kit.”

Negative visualization involves looking at people and things we love, realizing their impermanence, and contemplating their loss. You’ve found your dream job, but a year later the firm closes unexpectedly. How would you handle that? You love your daughter, but someday she will leave home or worse, she may die. Oddly, when we realize these things, when we don’t take for granted those we love, we love them all the more.

In the case of the election, you might have imagined the Harris-Walz ticket going down in flames and asked yourself, “What will I do then? How will I react? How can I go on battling for what I believe?” Make this effort, and you won’t be wailing on the Internet as if your world just imploded.

Lose the TDS. Leave the tantrums to preschoolers. It’s time to conduct yourselves as grownups.