WASHINGTON, D.C. (Michigan News Source) – No, “Trump Derangement Syndrome” (TDS) is not a clinically recognized mental health disorder. It doesn’t show up in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the gold standard for psychiatric conditions published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
However, the media company “Detroit Metro Times” says it’s real. In their report “Yes, Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real thing,” journalist Joe Lapointe says, “‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ is a valid and logical reaction to the deranged behavior of President Donald J. Trump. He is a dangerous buffoon and his second term in the White House may be worse than his first.”
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Lapointe went on to say, “I didn’t really believe that there was such a thing as Trump Derangement Syndrome – hatred of President Trump so intense that it impairs people’s judgment. It’s not that I didn’t notice the harsh, unyielding language against him – I’ve said a few tough things myself – but that throughout the campaign, Trump seemed to do things that justified it.”
A partisan put-down, not a diagnosis.
However, the Therapy Group of DC says that TDS is a “partisan insult, not a psychiatric diagnosis.” In other words, if you storm into a psychiatrist’s office ranting about Trump’s latest comments on TruthSocial or the fact that he’s trying to destroy democracy, don’t expect Blue Cross to cover your TDS treatments.
The term “TDS” is widely dismissed by mental health professionals as nothing more than political shorthand – a catch-all insult coined by Trump supporters and others who look on in disbelief as Democrats melt down on TikTok, pound podiums at rallies, or deliver Senate floor rants predicting democracy’s imminent collapse after every move the president makes.
Pragmatism out, paranoia in.
In theory, lawmakers are supposed to represent their constituents with a dose of pragmatism and common sense, guided by facts and basic decency. But for those trapped in the grip of TDS, the rulebook seems to have only one entry: if Trump does it, it must be bad. Period. Even while negotiating peace between Ukraine and Russia, Democrats raged on social media, claiming it was all just a distraction because Trump’s name was supposedly lurking in the so-called “Epstein files.”
Journalist Fareed Zakaria once defined TDS as “hatred of President Trump so intense that it impairs people’s judgment.” That’s not a diagnostic test, but it does explain half the cable news commentary since 2016 – and the current state of affairs on social media by both elected Democrats and their supporters.
A syndrome with pedigree (sort of).
The phrase “Trump Derangement Syndrome” wasn’t some new concept that popped up when Trump entered politics and became a presidential candidate. Back in 2003, conservative columnist and
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Harvard-trained psychiatrist Charles Krauthammer coined “Bush Derangement Syndrome” to mock what he saw as irrational fury directed at George W. Bush. The Trump version was inevitable – just with the volume knob broken off after being cranked to eleven.
Minnesota Lawmakers try to put TDS in the books.
Some politicians, however, have decided to take the moniker seriously. In March 2025, a group of Minnesota Republican senators introduced a bill to classify TDS as a mental illness. Their definition? “The acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal persons that is in reaction to the policies and presidencies of President Donald J. Trump. Symptoms may include Trump-induced general hysteria, which produces an inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences and signs of psychic pathology in President Donald J. Trump’s behavior.”
The bill says that TDS can be expressed by verbal expressions of intense hostility towards the president or even overt acts of aggression and violence against anyone supporting Trump or anything that symbolizes him.
Critics quickly responded with pushback. Minnesota Democratic Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy called the bill “wasteful, frivolous and shameful,” and said it was “possibly the worst bill in Minnesota history.”
Ohio also looks into TDS.
Not to be outdone by Minnesota, Ohio Republican Congressman Warren Davidson introduced the so- called TDS Research Act at the federal level in May 2025. The bill directs the Director of the National Institutes of Health to conduct or support research to advance the understanding of Trump Derangement Syndrome. It doesn’t just target individuals either. It targets the media and their amplified polarized responses to Trump’s campaign rhetoric, selective reporting and use of anonymous sources in their reporting. Davidson argued the condition has even fueled violence and points to the two assassination attempts on the president’s life.
Psychiatry pumps the brakes – sort of.
The American Psychiatric Association’s Goldwater Rule explicitly forbids diagnosing public figures without an in-person evaluation. That means, they say, that pinning “TDS” on pundits, protesters, or Aunt Marge at Thanksgiving isn’t just sloppy – it’s unethical. Many warn that weaponizing mental health terms for politics trivializes real mental illness.
Psychiatrists themselves fall prey.
If you needed proof that TDS isn’t a recognized diagnosis but maybe should be, just take a look at the professionals who’ve tied themselves in knots over it. Back in 2017, more than 30 psychiatrists and psychologists signed a letter to The New York Times insisting that Donald Trump was too mentally unstable to serve as president. They claimed his “grave emotional instability” made him incapable of serving safely as president. In other words, they broke their own profession’s Goldwater Rule – their ethical guideline against diagnosing public figures from afar – because they couldn’t resist playing armchair psychiatrist on the biggest stage possible in order to try to get rid of a political figure who they didn’t care for.
The irony is hard to miss: the very experts wagging their fingers about supposed instability were themselves engaging in what looks an awful lot like a collective meltdown. If psychiatrists, trained to keep cool heads, were penning frantic open letters warning of impending doom, maybe TDS doesn’t just affect your uncle at Thanksgiving. Maybe it really does turn even the so-called “experts” into case studies.
How the Democrats can help themselves.
In a Psychology Today article from September 2024 titled “The Paradox of ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’” writer Alex Pattakos, Ph.D. describes how those inflicted with the toxic fixation and negative reaction to Donald Trump can find calmness. He says that by the freedom of will and deliberately choosing an attitude and response – rather than reacting automatically – Trump haters can regain their personal agency, reduce stress and align their actions with meaningful values and goals. The question is, after approximately 10 years of being mired in TDS, can they change – and do they even want to?
