Well, it seems the Yale psychiatry department has officially weighed in on holiday gatherings and their advice. If your relatives voted for President-elect Donald Trump, it’s time to block off that family dinner.
Dr. Amanda Calhoun, a chief psychiatry resident at Yale, appeared on MSNBC with Joy Reid and suggested that it might be “essential” for the mental health of those who feel “triggered” by Trump’s win to skip holiday time with pro-Trump family members.
Her logic? Apparently, the simple act of disagreeing politically now constitutes an attack on someone’s “livelihood” and “safety.” According to Dr. Calhoun, setting up boundaries and informing Trump-supporting family members that they won’t be welcome at the Thanksgiving table isn’t just justified—it’s essential for well-being. After all, the assumption here is that Trump supporters aren’t just family with different views; they’re essentially threats to one’s personal survival.
In Dr. Calhoun’s world, a family member’s vote is no longer just a political decision—it’s an offense against their loved ones’ “existence.” She argues that for those concerned about “gender-affirming care” or “access to women’s healthcare,” a relative voting the other way is more than just a difference of opinion. It’s an existential threat. Therefore, in her view, canceling plans with family isn’t just permissible; it’s therapeutic.
Yale Psychiatrist Amanda Calhoun Urges MSNBC Viewers to Shun Trump-Voting Family over the Holidayshttps://t.co/c1AcyKeAUu
— Ben Owen (@hrkbenowen) November 11, 2024
Let’s not pretend this kind of advice isn’t extreme. The message from Dr. Calhoun is clear: if you don’t align with someone’s politics 100%, then it’s time to cut them off. This is the Yale psychiatry stance on family relationships in 2024—forget about fostering understanding or finding common ground. Instead, label your relatives a risk to your mental health and avoid them altogether. For the millions of Americans in politically mixed families, this “advice” suggests that those bonds are only as strong as the latest election results.
It’s fascinating that Dr. Calhoun frames this as a “mental health” necessity. By her logic, anyone with a relative who disagrees with them politically might need to set “boundaries” for self-preservation. Apparently, if someone has a different view on hot-button issues, that difference alone is enough to jeopardize mental well-being. Instead of encouraging people to learn resilience, patience, and tolerance—qualities that psychiatrists might traditionally value—Calhoun pushes the idea that avoidance is the answer.
In the real world, most Americans know they can disagree without treating each other as mortal enemies. This call to isolate ourselves from family because of differing votes does more harm than good. Families have always disagreed on politics, and most of us have managed to keep things civil, or at least make it through the turkey dinner without cutting ties.
Clearly Dr Amanda Calhoun does not know what she’s talking about. In fact, I would call this the opinion of a fool. Instead, no matter which of the several candidates you voted for, love your family more than your politics. Family is greater than politics, always! No question! https://t.co/kYFWk5UzAX
— Kevin Carson (@KevinCarson) November 9, 2024
So, here’s a holiday message from the Dr. Calhouns of the world: if your family doesn’t see eye-to-eye on politics, it’s perfectly fine to sit out Thanksgiving altogether. But maybe, just maybe, for the rest of us, we’ll go ahead and pass the stuffing—no politics required.
