Survey links emotional response to Donald Trump with 2026 voter behavior

A study commissioned by psychiatrist Dr. Carole Lieberman and conducted by TechnoMetrica suggests that strong public reactions to President Donald Trump, colloquially referred to as "Trump Derangement Syndrome," played a key role in the 2026 midterm election results. The survey, which polled 1,250 registered voters in October, indicates that emotional responses to the president may often supersede objective policy analysis in the minds of voters.

Key data points include that 54 percent of respondents were familiar with the term, while 38 percent claimed to have personally experienced the sentiments associated with it. Most notably, 73 percent of participants believed that intense negative feelings toward Trump influenced the voting patterns of their peers. Pollster Raghavan Mayur noted that these findings align with the shift in control of the U.S. Congress observed following the election.

Following the release of the data, Dr. Lieberman submitted a formal proposal to the American Psychiatric Association to consider the condition for inclusion in future editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The research aims to shift the focus toward how political figures shape civic discourse through emotional impact.