In recent years, many have felt an almost visceral impact of living through the Trump presidency.

The chaotic political landscape, coupled with the intensity of national crises—from the COVID-19 pandemic to social and political unrest—left emotional and mental scars for millions. Yet, as the next election looms, experts notice an unusual phenomenon: “Trump presidency amnesia.” According to a recent article in Mother Jones, this collective forgetting is partly due to how human memory operates under prolonged stress and trauma.

Here’s how our collective Trump memories are studied.

Memory experts argue that our minds tend to suppress painful or overwhelming memories, often compartmentalizing them to shield us from distress. This “amnesia” may also be influenced by how narratives are shaped and repeated in political discourse.

For example, a psychology professor at the New School for Social Research, William Hirst, explains that repetition of selective, positive memories can reinforce a “collective memory” while actively fading the negative aspects from the mind’s forefront.

Furthermore, psychiatrists George Makari and Richard Friedman argue in the New England Journal of Medicine that the pandemic’s collective trauma—and the social discord surrounding it—has left a mental fog in its wake. People may actively suppress memories of uncertainty, isolation, and fear associated with that time.

This selective memory, or “amnesia,” can benefit politicians like Trump, who leverage it by avoiding mention of painful events, such as the January 6th attack or pandemic mismanagement, in favor of nostalgia-inducing rhetoric​.

Trauma and memories are stored differently in the brain, and understanding this difference is crucial for understanding how trauma affects our emotions, behaviors, and well-being.

How our mind files and catalogs most memories.

Ordinary memories, primarily declarative or conscious memories (facts and events), are mainly processed in the hippocampus.

The hippocampus organizes and contextualizes memories, allowing us to recall information and experiences with clear context and details. This part of the brain works closely with the prefrontal cortex, which helps us logically process memories, place them in sequence, and make sense of their significance.

How our mind files and catalogs trauma.

When a traumatic event occurs, the brain’s processing changes dramatically. Trauma impacts areas like the amygdala and the hippocampus, both critical for emotional and memory processing:

Amygdala
This part of the brain is responsible for the “fight, flight, or freeze or fawn” response.

During trauma, the amygdala is hyper-activated, and it stores intense emotional impressions and sensory details (like sounds, smells, or sights) rather than an organized narrative. This emotional encoding is why trauma memories can feel visceral and intense, even years later, and why triggers can instantly cause emotional and physical reactions.

Hippocampus

Trauma can impair the hippocampus, making it harder to store the traumatic experience as an ordinary memory.

That’s why trauma memories can feel fragmented, out of sequence, or like they’re happening “in the moment” rather than as a past event. Because the hippocampus is less involved, the brain doesn’t organize the trauma into a complete, time-stamped memory like other experiences.

This difference matters because our brain can be a bad secretary.

The way trauma is stored affects how we experience and process it later. Trauma memories are often less accessible to our conscious memory and more likely to be triggered by sensory cues or emotional states. Because the hippocampus hasn’t fully organized them, trauma memories often resurface as intense emotions or physical sensations without a clear narrative context.

This can lead to flashbacks, hypervigilance, and avoidance behaviors, which are common in conditions like PTSD.

Understanding this difference is crucial in therapy, where techniques like trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), or Brainspotting aim to help the brain process trauma more fully, allowing the hippocampus to contextualize it properly. This reprocessing helps the brain to “time-stamp” the trauma as a past event, reducing its emotional intensity and allowing individuals to respond more flexibly rather than react from a place of past trauma.

Trauma results from highly distressing events that overwhelm a person’s ability to cope and process what happened. These experiences trigger intense emotional and physiological responses, profoundly impacting mental and physical health. However, trauma isn’t experienced the same way by everyone; a combination of factors—including genetics, personal history, resilience, and support systems—can influence how people process traumatic events.

Causes of trauma, variability, and why it’s not predictable.

Trauma can stem from a range of events, including abuse, accidents, natural disasters, loss, and collective societal events (e.g., a pandemic or political instability).

Importantly, trauma isn’t only about the event itself but about how a person experiences and interprets it. For example, while two people might experience the same event, one may develop symptoms of PTSD, and the other may not, depending on their mental and emotional resources, support networks, and prior life experiences (American Psychological Association, 2013).

For people who dismiss trauma as “drama,” it may help to explain the science behind trauma’s impact on the brain and body.

Trauma isn’t simply an emotional overreaction; it’s a physiological response that disrupts areas like the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex, altering how people process emotions and memories (McFarlane & van der Kolk, 1996).

Trauma responses aren’t about seeking attention but about changes in the brain that influence feelings, thoughts, and behaviors in response to specific triggers. Educating others about these physiological effects can help validate the impact of trauma.

Trauma in response to political events and the Trump Era.

Studies have increasingly documented how societal and political stressors, including the recent political climate, impact mental health. Research has found that the Trump presidency, marked by divisive rhetoric, policy changes, and social unrest, has intensified stress, especially among marginalized groups and people with specific identity backgrounds.

1. The American Psychological Association’s “Stress in America” Surveys have consistently reported increased stress linked to political and social uncertainty since 2016. A 2017 APA survey revealed that over 63% of Americans reported feeling stressed by the nation’s future, with many citing political climate, personal safety, and social divisiveness as contributing factors (APA, 2017).

2. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Study (2020) researchers found that political stress and conflict since the 2016 election contributed to adverse health effects for many Americans. This study showed that Americans across political identities experienced increased anxiety, loss of sleep, and deteriorating physical health due to political conflict (Smith, Hibbing, & Hibbing, 2020).

3. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease published a study that noted “Trump Anxiety Disorder,” with symptoms like worry about national and global safety, avoidance behaviors (e.g., avoiding news), and relationship tension. This research underscores that significant political changes and the perceived threat to democratic norms can influence mental health similarly to traumatic stress (Doherty, 2019).

4. The COVID-19 Pandemic added a layer of trauma during the Trump administration, with social and political debates over health protocols, vaccine distribution, and misinformation exacerbating stress, particularly among healthcare workers and marginalized communities (Galea, Merchant, & Lurie, 2020).

These studies collectively suggest that living in a climate marked by social and political division, especially in times of instability, can contribute to trauma and trauma-like responses in many individuals.

Feeling traumatized or even anxious because of Trump is legit.

The fact that many people are experiencing distress as a result of the Trump presidency is entirely valid and supported by research. Political and social turmoil can feel traumatic, especially when it disrupts a person’s safety and stability.

The phenomenon of “Trump presidency amnesia” only complicates this further by creating a sense of isolation for those who remember the impact vividly.

Experts have shown that the combination of divisive rhetoric, repeated crises, and social upheaval during these years has left lasting imprints on people’s mental health, comparable to the stress responses seen in other traumatic events.

As we collectively reflect on these years, remember that feeling impacted by them is not “drama.”

Trauma doesn’t only stem from traditional disasters or personal loss; it can arise from social and political climates that challenge our fundamental sense of security and belonging. The emotional, physiological, and psychological effects are real, and addressing them openly is crucial for healing and resilience.

Understanding and validating these experiences paves the way for a more honest public memory that helps keep history intact and honors the realities people endured.

Bibliography

American Psychological Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC.

American Psychological Association. (2017). Stress in America: The State of Our Nation. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2017/state-nation.pdf.

Doherty, C. (2019). “Political Division and Trump Anxiety Disorder.” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.

Galea, S., Merchant, R. M., & Lurie, N. (2020). “The Mental Health Consequences of COVID-19 and Implications for Health System Reform.” AMA.

McFarlane, A. C., & van der Kolk, B. A. (1996). “Trauma and Its Challenge to Society.” American Psychiatric Press.

Smith, K. B., Hibbing, M. V., & Hibbing, J. R. (2020). “The Political Divide and Health Outcomes in the United States.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior.