Dr. Michael Bordieri and Tracy Ross discuss Election Stress Disorder on Sounds Good.
Research into the psychological effects of elections has increased in the last several months. Bordieri says some studies suggest election seasons have a positive impact on people by increasing civic engagement. Other studies have found elections may cause psychological stress. According to Bordieri, people have dubbed the negative effect Election Stress Disorder.
A September study by the American Psychological Association found that many people feel election stress is affecting their ability to focus on their jobs, families, and relationships. Beyond general stress, Bordieri says political discussions that center around minority groups can have a negative impact on the people in those groups.
“And in this cycle we have certainly seen some of that in terms of casting groups of people in negative light and heated rhetoric shared about them,” Bordieri said. “And there has been some research looking at LGBT rights issues, especially in California. For example, Proposition 8 which was trying to ban same sex marriage in 2008, when that ran there were some studies looking at the effect on the LGBT community. What we found is the individuals who reported in the study reported they felt some positive sense, there’s a sense of community or coming together to stand up for what they believe in. But they also reported preoccupation with this consuming their life and feeling stigma and prejudice from society, as well.”
To deal with the stress of election season, Bordieri suggests ways of dealing with general anxiety. He advises to not always engage in political discussion as unplugging and engaging in other areas of life can be important. He says we can also reevaluate how we discuss politics in search of a way to have civil conversations about important issues. Changing the tone of the discussion could change its psychological impact.
