Post-Election Blues Continue to Haunt Workers, Students and Several Industry Sectors 

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Many workers, college professors and students are still calling in sick and missing work as a result of the Donald J. Trump landside win in the latest presidential election.  Mental health professionals report that stress and feelings of loss are permeating every aspect of the workplace.  

Nationwide, mental health bookings on Zocdoc, a virtual platform, jumped by 22 percent between the hours of 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. following the presidential election. Mental health provider Spring Health reported a 24 percent increase in member accounts from Nov. 4 to Nov. 5, and most significantly, a 240 percent surge from Nov 3 to Nov. 4.   And the Trevor Project, for LGBTQ youth, reported a 125 percent increase in crisis calls, texts, and chat messages through November 11, 2024.  

Officials at KERV technology company are now offering flexible work options post-election, allowing employees the space to process the result and talk about them, and affording team members the opportunity to connect with company leadership.   

University of Pittsburgh professors called in sick mourning the loss by Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. And students at Georgetown University are still grieving the election results as their school continues to offer hot milk and cookies, adult coloring books and crayons in quiet rooms throughout campus to help students calm down about election results.  

Liana Secondino , a journalism major at Lehigh University, said she feels defeated. “After the whole waiting in line for six hours to vote, and hoping the Northhampton County would be blue. It’s like coming off an adrenaline high,’’ she said.  

The president of Slippery Rock Area school board is facing calls for her resignation over a controversial post on social media about the presidential election. Board president Heather Bennett shared a post on social media about her disappointment with Trump’s win.  

As the post-election mental meltdowns continue, Paula A. Calabrese, a Ph.D. in Pittsburgh, Pa., suggests that employers might consider the following options to calm workers:  

Buy the calm app which provides soothing sounds and signals,  install a screensaver  on all company computers with visuals of forests, provide for 10-minute exercise breaks or buy, distribute stress balls, email a calming morning message to employees,  offer voluntary back massages at employee desks provided by a licensed massage therapist and offer employees the opportunity to wear slippers at their desks when they are not meeting the public.  

“I don’t think that anyone can reduce someone else’s stress. To me, it is an interior giving up process and a voluntary desire to let go,’’ said Calabrese.  

Exit polls show Trump won overwhelmingly among White voters without a college education and made inroads with Black and Latino men.  

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