A therapist's warning: Trump didn't break America — permanent outrage did

Over the past decade, a psychological pattern has spread across American life, crossing class and geography: chronic political anxiety marked by outrage and a constant sense of threat.

Our culture now rewards emotional intensity over restraint. Outrage is amplified, while reflection is suspect. Jonathan Alpert is a psychotherapist in New York City and Washington, D.C. He is the author of the forthcoming book "Therapy Nation." Follow him on X @JonathanAlpert.

Over the past decade, one psychological pattern has quietly become dominant in American life. It cuts across education, geography, and socioeconomic status. I would even go so far as to call it the defining pathology of our political era: a state of chronic political anxiety in which outrage becomes habitual and threat becomes the default lens.