Yale Psychiatrist Urges Toxic Family Breakup Over Election Drama

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Let’s talk about the latest fallout from Donald Trump’s election win—because, apparently, a lot of Americans are airing their mental breakdowns on social media. In the days since Trump’s victory, people have been spiraling online, treating Facebook and Twitter like free therapy, sharing their every angst-ridden moment over what the next four years might bring.

Enter Dr. Amanda Calhoun, a Yale psychiatrist who took her message to MSNBC with some unconventional advice. Speaking with MSNBC’s Joy Reid, Dr. Calhoun advised viewers to consider cutting off family members who didn’t vote for Kamala Harris. Yes, you read that right. Her suggestion? Tell your Trump-supporting relatives that their political choices are personal attacks on your “very livelihood,” and explain why you’ll be skipping the family holiday gathering.

Dr. Calhoun wasn’t just throwing around this advice casually, either. She called it “essential” for mental health; apparently because avoiding anyone with a differing political opinion is now a cornerstone of self-care. The context for her appearance on Reid’s show was a report that crisis center calls from LGBT youth spiked 700 percent following Trump’s win. Her solution? Family cut-offs.

But here’s where it gets tricky: Dr. Calhoun’s advice seems less about mental health and more about, well, promoting an agenda. Encouraging people to equate political differences with threats to their “very existence” sounds a lot more like pushing people toward ideological dogma than helping anyone actually cope with stress. Setting boundaries can absolutely be healthy; however, Calhoun’s advice seems to treat disagreement as inherently harmful. Because, hey, why find common ground when you can just… cancel Christmas?

So, here’s the kicker: we’re left wondering if this approach is about healing or about mixing politics with medicine in a way that feels more like a push toward groupthink than genuine care.