Family breakups over politics may hurt more than you think, expert says

A clinical psychologist is warning that the trend of cutting off family members over political differences often promoted as self-care on social media may veritably fuel loneliness and worsen mental physical condition Cutting off your social sponsorship cutting off your family members creating loneliness and isolation for yourself is truly the worst thing you can do for your mental soundness Dr Chloe Carmichael stated Fox News Digital That s like eating Twinkies for medical food Carmichael author of the new book Can I Say That Why Free Speech Matters and How to Use It Fearlessly argues that alienating loved ones over politics undermines family bonds resilience emotional well-being and freedom of expression Carmichael points to an increasing number of progressive young Americans who are choosing to sever ties with parents or relatives over their assistance for President Donald Trump FORMER OBAMA SPEECHWRITER ADMITS SHUNNING CONSERVATIVE IN HIS FAMILY WAS A MISTAKE It s unfortunate that we ve seen an incredible trend of younger family members typically cutting off more senior family members sometimes even their own parents she reported She connects this trend to research from Tufts University showing liberals tend to summary worse mental robustness than conservatives According to her research liberals are also more likely to engage in what she calls the five Ds defriending on social media putting distance in real life dropping relationships disinviting speakers and declining to date all over political differences I m connecting these because we know that we re in an epidemic of loneliness and we know that loneliness is not good for mental medical Carmichael explained So if you re part of a political demographic that tends to cut people off over political differences then it s not surprising to me that we are seeing that isolation-type behavior Gallup input shows Americans' assessment of their own mental robustness has grown increasingly negative over the past years The percentage of young adults ages to who assessment excellent mental wellbeing has dropped points in the past decade with young women reporting chosen of the steepest declines On social media emerging ties with politically different family members is often framed as empowerment or self-preservation Carmichael stressed that in cases of name-calling or physical threats creating distance or boundaries is appropriate But she cautions against using estrangement as the default response LIBERAL WRITER ENCOURAGES SHUNNING TRUMP-SUPPORTING RELATIVES AS RIGHT THING TO DO What we need to learn how to do is how to be resilient and how to have relationships Even if we disagree we can have a diversity of opinions and our lives will be richer for it she stated She argues that the ability to freely express oneself leads to more authentic relationships and stronger social aid which acts as a buffer against mental wellness struggles It also has a positive impact on the brain she says When we name our emotions our amygdala activity has been shown to decrease Carmichael stated The amygdala is the part of the brain that gets developing when we re fearful So we want to get away from oppression suppression and denial We want to get more into authentic communication So how do families confront political tensions in their families Carmichael emphasizes practicing what she calls listening resiliently For example if you re listening to someone who s saying things that you find very triggering or they make no sense to you sometimes it can be helpful to just practice how a great number of questions can I ask in a row before I feel the need to jump in with my own opinion she announced SOUNDS LIKE A CULT SOCIOLOGIST RIPS LEFTIST CALLS TO CUT OFF TRUMP FAMILY MEMBERS DURING THE HOLIDAYSShe also encourages recalling moments when one s own views have shifted Maybe this person is going through their own similar moment So we want to stir our compassion and our ability to just listen curiously even if we disagree with someone she stated For those who struggle to speak up she recommends preparation and patronage such as alerting a colleague before raising a sensitive point at work or role-playing conversations in advance She also suggests reviewing workplace or university speech policies to better understand one s rights Carmichael believes free speech and open dialogue not only improve mental wellbeing but also reduce bullying and polarization We are not stuck in a false choice between free speech versus hate speech and bullying taking over our lives she explained When we give people the tools to communicate effectively that s when we indeed decrease problems like bullying and violence and the types of true intense problems that we want to avoid If we really want to fight misinformation what we need is to have open dialogue that s able to be scrutinized examined and debated she added And that s how we ll veritably come to the truth FORMER MEGACHURCH PASTOR DECLARES TRUMP SUPPORTERS CAN'T BE 'GOOD' PEOPLE IN FIERY ESSAYHer book arrives as particular liberal media figures continue to encourage shunning Trump-supporting family members after Trump's triumph Just days after the electoral process a psychiatrist on former MSNBC host Ecstasy Reid's show suggested that it might be healthier to distance from Trump-supporting loved ones during the holidays There is a push I think just a societal norm that if somebody is your family that they are entitled to your time and I think the answer is absolutely not Dr Amanda Calhoun chief psychiatry resident at Yale University mentioned last November In a July essay for New York Magazine writer Sarah Jones similarly argued that neutrality in relationships doesn t exist and that sometimes cutting off family members over political disagreements is the right program of action