Political Poison

Wed, 02/26/2025 - 13:47

I am Virginia, I am 83 years old and I am suffering from Trump poisoning. I thought it was something I had kicked, but then late last year it reared its ugly head again. I am amazed at the various forms it can take.

It’s worse than an ad for pharmaceuticals, if you list the side effects that appear in a moment out of nowhere. Unfortunately there is no way to avoid them. Consulting my physician didn’t help. She suffers from it too, and tells me to find ways to relax and focus my attention elsewhere. And then she said that if I found out how to do that, I should immediately contact her so she could do it too.

My symptoms include the following: ennui, bouts of extreme anger, the inability to focus on a task, the conviction that I have contracted a rare disease that alternately makes me itch in places I can’t scratch and unexplained sweating, then sudden coldness of extremities, compulsive rewatching of tv series I have seen multiple times such as West Wing and Gilmore Girls, excessive consumption of sweets and alcohol, and nightmares.

A few nights ago I dreamed I was driving a car and could only get it to go backwards. The ‘drive’ label didn’t even show on the gearshift indicator on the dash. Fortunately I woke up after multiple tries to get the damn thing to work properly, but then once again I was unreasonably irate for the rest of the day.

Yes I do the things. The phone calls to politicians, the emails, the watching of news bites (no longer a full hour of news for me, that really exacerbates the condition). My postcards to write are coming soon and I’ve bought the stamps.

I am trying to be faithful with self care, but my motivation is low. I’d rather work online crosswords or play online solitaire.

I did venture outside yesterday and picked three roses, some lavender, and rosemary. That has worked a bit of magic and alleviated some of the symptoms. So I’m going to keep them close by and take more as needed.

That’s enough whining for now. Do you have symptoms too?