Trump’s election in 2016 was not an entertainment for many; in fact it was a trauma: Report

Washington, Oct 24: Often, people are of the opinion that they are not into politics. The domain, thanks to its ever eroding credibility across the globe, is also not treated with seriousness by many, especially the younger generations.

But here is a report which suggests that politics could still have a deep impact on the people today and unfortunately, not for the better. A new research has suggested that such an outcome of politics leaving a deep scar on the people's psyche was seen when the results of the American presidential election in 2016 had come out on November 8 that year, Mashable reported.

In a survey which featured around 800 college students, 25 per cent responded with such high level of stress after the poll results were out that the researchers compared it with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, as per a new study published in the Journal of American College Health, the Mashable said.

Republican Donald Trump defeated his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton in the election even though the former, an individual considered a maverick, sensation or even lunatic, was seen to be an exception in the race before he stunned all to grab the top post.

During the election, the researchers kept a close look on how people reacted and saw some strong reactions from young adults. Melissa Hagan, the lead researcher, even saw during a session post the results that students were visibly upset, some even resorting to crying, the Mashable report added.

"That, in combination with some polls in circulation discussing politically-caused "stress" drove her and her colleagues to look into how exactly the election affected certain people, Hagan said via email," the report said.

The researchers conducted a psychological assessment called the Impact of Event Scale, which is used to gauge how a person responds to trauma and they set their questions to the presidential election. In the process, they found some college students saying that they were affected by the election "in such a way that it might lead to diagnosable post-traumatic stress disorder", Hagan said, according to the report.

Some symptoms of the stress are chronic fatigue, physical illness, stomach and chest pain. Certain groups like the Black and Hispanic, women, Democrats and non-Christians were strongly impacted by the results.