The insulated, self-important Occupy protesters – with whom Chicago Teachers Union leaders recently declared their “front and center” allegiance – risk developing post traumatic stress disorder, according to their leaders.

All of that daily pouting and shouting can really wear on a soul, they say. And the best way to deal with it is to have a good cry.

One document published by Occupy Chicago, titled “Responding to Trauma in Protests and Mass Mobilizations: Supporting Yourself and Others to Cope with Traumatic Incidents,” begins:

Factors that place us at greater risk for post-traumatic stress are having a history of abuse, not getting support that we need from our allies, and being separated from others, either during or following the action. Because abuse is pervasive in this culture, learning to heal from and integrate our traumatic experiences in action can empower us to live our lives more fully every day.

Occupy Chicago explains the warning signs in another document titled “Crisis Fact Sheet: 10 Ways to Recognize Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”:

- Feeling “emotionally numb.”

- Crying uncontrollably.

- Isolating oneself from family and friends and avoiding social situations.

- Relying increasingly on alcohol or drugs to get through the day.

- Feeling extremely moody, irritable, angry, suspicious or frightened.

- Feeling overwhelmed by what would normally be considered everyday situations and diminished interest in performing normal tasks or pursuing usual interests.

- Feeling guilty about surviving the event or being unable to solve the problem, change the event or prevent the disaster.

- Feeling fears and sense of doom about the future.

All of those pretty much describe the Occupy crowd. But the self-important audacity of Occupy shines through in another document, titled “Trauma and Healing.” It calls for a healthy dose of self-pity and weeping to overcome the effects of PTSD.

In comparison to rape, perpetrating mass murder, or other terrible things, street demonstration is relatively less traumatic – however trauma is very much an individual thing and people can be severely affected [sic] by imprisonment, gassing, beatings by police, betrayal, or even unexpected behavior by comrades or the state. We can mourn little things as well as big things and it’s healthy and we should. Spending time in the ‘sad space’ intentionally allows us to delve deeper into the things we need to heal and we can gradually recover memories that may have been blacked out in order to cope at an earlier stage in life. Many people, many activists were imprisoned or held captive or felt that way through childhood and schooling. There is much to mourn and it’s healthy.

If these folks spent half as much time dropping résumés as they do feeling sorry for themselves, they wouldn’t have anything to protest.

But employment would be tantamount to giving in to “the 1 percent” and the evil capitalist system. These folks believe it’s far better to stand around blaming others for the problems in their lives and to demand reparations from those who bother to work for a living.

Those poor Occupiers. What dreadful lives they’ve been forced to lead. Tissue, anyone?

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