I work with dying Trump supporters. It's...confusing by Scott Janssen
Im driving down a gravel road in rural North Carolina, looking at mailbox numbers. A hospice social worker, Im headed to meet Petey, a patient dying of metastatic cancer. When Id called his wife Jackie to schedule our first visit, shed told me theyd been married more than 60 years. I cant believe this is happening, shed said, her voice heavy with sadness. I dont know how Im going to make it in this world when hes gone.
A few homes down I see a ranch style house with a Trump flag hanging limp from what looks like a homemade flagpole. Hell no, not that one, I think, before realizing the number Im looking for is on a grey mailbox at a driveway leading to that very house.
Now, I see that my anger may have fueled a cognitive distortion or two. Or three. Cognitive distortions are patterns of thought, typically automatic and unconscious, that cause an inaccurate, negative view of situations, people, and/or events. These include things like jumping to conclusions; black-and-white thinking; negative mental filtering; overgeneralizing; mindreading (incorrectly believing we know what others are thinking, what their motives are); and emotional reasoning (believing that if we are feeling something, or if what we are thinking is associated with a strong emotion, it must be true).
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Excellent, thought-provoking piece.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/4/6/2233194/-I-work-with-dying-Trump-supporters-It-s-confusing?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email