Undue Anxiety in Our Political Times: How to Respond

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PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

Not long ago, I was asked to write a brief pamphlet on how to respond to anti-Semitism since it has been steadily and worryingly rising once again over the last decade.¹ Connected to that, in recent columns, I have focused on the relevance of the Jewish holiday of Passover for our times, as that story depicts one of the worst anti-Semitic times for Jews in history.

This year’s 8 days of Passover are over this weekend, so let’s see what remains that may have special relevance for our times, and whether the pamphlet can be applied as far as responding. This year, it also happens to be the weekend of Good Friday and Easter Sunday in Christianity. Another mass shooting occurred in Florida yesterday. We have learned that history tends to repeat itself if not addressed well enough, whether that is personally or societally.

The pamphlet starts with a scene from several years back, during a junior high school class photo in a small town in Wisconsin. The boys gave a Nazi salute. Once found out, the response from our Milwaukee Jewish Community Relations Council was to visit the town and provide some education for the people.

So far, one of the dominant personal stories in our new governmental policies has been the expulsion of Kilmar Armando Abrego-Garcia to El Salvador and the conflict of whether and how he should be returned. There are threats that other Americans could be sent there. Interesting enough, in regard to the current Israel and Hamas war, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, happens to come from a paternal background of Christian Palestinians and has strongly criticized Hamas.

In our last 2 conflictual federal governmental administrations, there is difference of opinion about who now might represent the Egyptian Pharaoh and who are the slaves needing to escape and find physical and mental freedom.

Right now, for perhaps about half of the country, security has been shaken. Anti-Semitism has been the canary in the coal mine of the oppression of vulnerable and scapegoated others. So the questions in the pamphlet that we hoped belonged to the past, but seem to be making a present comeback, are:

Are we safe?

Will North America continue to be a welcoming home for us?

What do we tell our children?

These are anguishing questions. Various levels and strength of trauma are taking place. As the pamphlet describes different vulnerable groups of Jews, there seems to be other vulnerable groups in the United States: those whose jobs suddenly ended or are in jeopardy; any group publicizing and supporting DEI; undocumented immigrants; and those with mental illness in general.

The pamphlet comes with another question: What can you do? Passover closes with a service of remembrance for the dead, 1 of 4 times a year for such a service. In the end of the Passover story, the Jewish slaves escape across the Red Sea, the Egyptian army drowns chasing them, and the journey to freedom proceeds. The escaping slaves are reminded to be compassionate to those drowned even if they were oppressors.

One of the recommendations in the pamphlet is to speak out against anti-Semitism. However, doing needs to be done in a safe environment and, unless in an emergency, with compassion and respect to avoid pushback and revenge. The same holds true for those who are resisting current administrative governmental policies.

Another recommendation is to focus on the positive. There are some positive responses in opposition to some policies. Our country has gone through turbulent leadership times before, perhaps most recently with past president Nixon, who resigned after scandal.

A last recommendation is to report anti-Semitism to the proper authorities. Similarly, current resistance may need to report undue new policies and orders to legal and judicial resources, which may be sympathetic.

Mental coping was a challenge for the slaves in the Passover story a thousand years ago, including regression to the perceived comfort of slavery compared with the uncertainly and challenges of the journey to freedom. We in psychiatry must be able to educate and help others to cope with the uncertainly and undue anxiety that they—and we—are experiencing, as well as mourning what has been lost.

Today is also Good Friday, known as the day in Christianity when Jesus was killed. Sunday is Easter Sunday, when Jesus was resurrected with the accompanying redemption of hope for the future. The overlap of Christianity and psychiatry, as well as the importance of considering religion and spirituality in clinical psychiatry, is covered in one of the books of the Springer series on religions and psychiatry.² Last month was the important spiritual time of Ramadan for Muslims.

For those in present power, the advice is not to allow hardening of their hearts, which was the Pharaoh’s downfall and eventually the downfall of the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus. I call it the 11th add-on plague in the Passover story of 10 plagues the Egyptians suffered. Now, at least, there is a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, which provides hope for the future. Christianity has thrived amidst some times of conflict.

Too much hatred in leaders, and in those who usually need psychiatric help, often leads to foolish behavior and widespread destruction.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He presented the third Rabbi Jeffrey B. Stiffman lecture at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis on Sunday, May 19, 2024. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.

References

1. Moffic HS. Antisemitism: How to Respond. Behrman House, Inc; 2025.

2. Peteet JR, Moffic HS, Hankir A, Koenig HG. Christianity and Psychiatry. Springer; 2021.