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(figurative) An abrupt and unexpected change, or the resulting feeling of shock.
2014, Lisa Damour, “The Emotional Whiplash of Parenting a Teenager”, in Motherlode: Adventures In Parenting:
Some parents, feeling too hurt by the push-off or taking their teenager’s rejections too personally, choose to make themselves unavailable. In some ways it does feel better to avoid episodes of emotional whiplash.
2021, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Michael D. Shear, “Americans Suffer Pandemic Whiplash as Leaders Struggle With Changing Virus”, in The New York Times:
A week of public health reversals from the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has left Americans with pandemic whiplash, sowing confusion about coronavirus vaccines and mask-wearing as the Delta variant upends what people thought they knew about how to stay safe.
2023 March 31, Kevin Roose, “Google C.E.O. Sundar Pichai on the A.I. Moment: ‘You Will See Us Be Bold’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
And he talked about the “whiplash” he often feels when it comes to A.I. these days, as some people urge companies like Google to move faster on A.I., release more products and take bigger risks, while others urge them to slow down and be more cautious.
Usage notes
The exact causal chain leading to the medical condition as well as the objectivisation of its diagnostics are still controversial, thus the attributability of symptoms to the acts of tortfeasors is frequently subject to dispute.