LONDON — Remainers: getting angry isn't working. It's time to see a shrink.

Visit any middle-class gathering this summer and even the vaguest hint of Brexit sympathy is likely to elicit a swift and angry response. "It's broken the social contract," one senior City lawyer told this author over wine one evening, in a broadside aimed squarely at those who voted for Brexit. "We paid all the taxes which propped them up. Now they've gone and f****d us. So, f**k them. We'll be fine, but they're screwed."

At another gathering, at the embassy of a major EU27 country, senior figures laughed, joked and despaired at the stupidity of the country voting to leave. Brexit was like a cancerous tumor which had to be surgically removed from the EU, one prominent official said. Few demurred.

In Westminster's bars and restaurants, MPs often talk of the "catastrophe," "humiliation" and "nightmare" being inflicted on them.

At their heart are questions of identity, power and uncertainty.

For Britain’s pro-European middle classes, Brexit is akin to a psychological trauma which has left many unable to behave rationally, according to two leading experts. Far from being hyper-rational observers concerned only with what is economically sensible, many have morphed into the "Remainiacs" of Brexiteer disdain.

They are acting no differently to what psychologists would expect from those suffering from chronic anxiety caused by loss of control and insecurity, Dr. Philip Corr, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at the University of London, and Dr. Simon Stuart, a clinical psychologist, told POLITICO.

In such circumstances, Corr and Stuart said, patients can become prone to anger, despair and rumination, while slipping into polarized "in" and "out" groups, seeking solace in the demonization of the "other," whom they blame for the current state of affairs.

Sound familiar?

While it is impossible to put 48 percent of the country on the couch and generalize about their reaction to Brexit, there are common psychological threads running through the train of emotions many Remainers are feeling, the experts said. And at their heart are questions of identity, power and uncertainty.

#FBPE

To an extent unparalleled in British political history, Brexit has ripped away the veneer of security that the managerial and professional classes enjoyed, throwing — in their mind at least — almost everything into question, from the U.K.’s place in the world to the future prosperity of their children. It is a threat that many find hard to cope with psychologically.

It is also something many of them feel can be blamed on those over whom Britain’s educated professionals usually have day-to-day political, economic and social control — the working-class, provincial, poor and elderly who were over-represented among Leave voters.

According to Corr and Stuart, this emotional response is “standard psychological stuff." To find solace and some level of security amid the disorder, Remainers are following a well-trodden path to polarized group think, dismissing their social "inferiors" who voted for Brexit as stupid, racist and easily misled.

Such a prognosis goes some way to explaining why other EU countries are far less concerned by Brexit than the U.K., even if it could have similar, if less severe, disruptive economic effects. For Britain, Brexit is existential, affecting almost all its political, diplomatic and economic ties with Europe — and therefore more likely to cause anxiety about the future. For other countries, it is just a pain.

“On both sides of the debate, there is evidence of considerable ‘in-group’ love and ‘out-group’ hate," said Corr. "This is only to be expected given the social psychological dynamics of the debate."

One example is the pro-EU hashtag #FBPE used by Remainers on Twitter to highlight their opposition to Brexit. The acronym stands for "follow back, pro EU" — a calling card for others who agree with them to join their social media circle.

Kick in the rear

Corr said there are two major psychological processes happening for those particularly exercised by Brexit.

First is the “loss of behavioral control” for the Remain group — made up, in the most part, according to academic studies, of wealthier, professional and more educated people.

The lack of control over the direction of the country is “psychologically very disturbing" and “has been long known to undermine psychological stability — including the ability to reason objectively."

Faced with a political situation of unprecedented uncertainty, the brain naturally sends warning signals that all is not well, causing “heightened negative emotions” such as panic and anxiety. While this is happening the body is also put on high alert for new threats.

The second psychological process at play, according to Corr, is “goal conflict” — when people try to resolve the conflict causing them such psychological trauma — in this case, why Brexit is happening. “One powerful way of this is ‘cognitive dissonance,'” explains Corr. “When holding two opposing ideas or behaviors, one can change one to accommodate the other,” he said.

In the case of Brexit, instead of assuming that the Leave camp appraised the situation equally well as the Remain camp, and with equally honorable motives, he said, "the goal-conflict and cognitive dissonance has been resolved by assuming that the Leave camp are — typically speaking but always with exception — stupid, ill-informed and ill-intended. The underlying notion seems to be that they should have listened to ‘their betters’ — rather like naughty school children, if only they had ‘paid more attention in class.’”

Corr says the fact that many working-class people have been subject to this attitude for much of their lives “made the kick up the backside of ‘their betters’ all the more enjoyable.”

Living with anxiety

Stuart agreed that for the traditional liberal elite, the political upheaval happening all around them is likely to be “incredibly anxiety-provoking.”

“Human beings hate uncertainty. If our lives are constantly uncertain, our stress levels increase markedly — this is something that people living in poverty know only too well," he said. "And now, all of a sudden, the professional, liberal, educated middle class is getting a taste of this. It feels horrible — literally 'feels,' because we're experiencing a physical stress response.”

One way to avoid this sensation is to join together with others who feel the same way, Stuart said. “In the absence of anything better, ‘blame and shout at the out-group’ seems to be being constantly, mutually reinforced.”

In other words, Remainers may just need to relax and get over it.

Part of the problem for Remainers is that their emotional reaction to Brexiteers makes them feel better, even if it fails to address the fundamental cause of their anxiety. "Trouble is, in the longer term it's not really doing anything other than keeping us going round in circles, constantly talking about Brexit and winding ourselves up," he said.

If the Brexit Anxiety Disorder theory holds true in real life, Britain’s angry Remainers can be expected to quickly return to more “normal,” rational behavior once the conflict has been resolved. In the case of Brexit, this means people grabbing hold of any certainty tha comes along, accepting whatever deal the U.K. and EU are able to strike.

“Once this goal-conflict has been resolved, then there will be a major change in these individual and collective psychological states, and the Brexit debate may become more fact-faced rather than resembling the feelings and thoughts that result from hearing a disturbing noise in the night,” Corr said.

Stuart said this may be a little too optimistic though.

“Those suffering anxiety might return to more ‘normal,’ ‘rational’ behavior if the context around them changes,” he said. Clinically, however, this is often a forlorn hope, because contexts don't usually tend to change enough.

"In that case, what I'd try to do is help the person become more flexible — in short, to learn how to live with the anxiety, tolerate the uncertainty, and work out how they can continue to engage with what truly matters to them in life, rather than getting caught up trying to change things they can't change.”

In other words, Remainers may just need to relax and get over it.