By Greg Ganske
October 31, 2024
My 95-year-old Mother is so stressed out by the coming election that she tosses and turns all night and can’t sleep. It is affecting her health. No wonder! She is being bombarded night and day with TV ads and programming that threaten doom and the end of the world if one or the other of the presidential candidates loses or wins. She is told incessantly that this is the “most important election of her lifetime. . .even, in our nation’s history” by both political parties to increase their base vote turn-out.
Her anxiety triggered my own memories of stressful events. In 1976 in the Denver General ER my finger plugged the gunshot hole in a victim’s heart while my more senior resident readied his needle holder and suture. As a chief resident in surgery, I remember the stress of putting a clamp on a VA patient’s pulsating, nearly bursting abdominal aortic aneurism. At stressful times like that it was necessary to think straight and act with control—to stay cool.
To encourage these traits, Sir William Osler wrote an essay later included in a book distributed to more than 150,000 graduating medical students. In Aequanimitus (1) openlibrary.org., Osler advocated that physicians develop two qualities of “imperturbability” and “equanimity” which he defined as “coolness and presence of mind under all circumstances.”
Two, possibly three, assassination attempts on one of our presidential candidates, and the heightened public anxiety these events make equanimity vital to our candidates’ physical wellbeing, for our own mental health and to the health of the body politic. Emotions are too hot—we need to cool it!
My Mother is not alone in her fear for her children and grandchildren. More than 40% of Americans report signs of anxiety or depression and about the same number say the news and social media coverage of the election make them feel more anxious. (2,3) Psychiatry News May 1, 2024. 3) “Feeling Anxious? Understanding the Rise in Anxiety Disorders Among Young Adults,” Alyssa Hunt, Instagram.com, July 17, 2024.
Polls show that 60% are anxious about the presidential contest. 4) “Gen Z Adults and Younger Millenials are completely overwhelmed by stress.” Anna Medaris, American Psychological Association, Nov 1, 2023. 5) “Election-xiety? 2024 Presidential Race Is Seriously Stressing Americans Out,” Terry Collins, USA Today, July 11, 2024.
Anxiety affects young adults at a higher rate than older generations. Over 40% of adults aged 18-29 report symptoms of anxiety more days than not.) 6) “Politics Stressing You Out? Five Steps to feeling Better.” Harvard.edu, KGA, Inc. Women in this age group are twice as likely as men to develop anxiety disorder, while men tend to mask symptoms. Stressing Americans Out,” Terry Collins, USA Today, July 11, 2024.
Covid caused a 25% rise in anxiety according to the World Health Organization. (7) Adding election stress to Covid and all the usual causes of strife and worry at home and work has made it imperative to find ways to mitigate additional political anxiety. 7) “The impact of elections Stress: IS Political Anxiety Harming Your Health?” American Psychological Association, Zara Abrams, Oct 1, 2024. (8) 8) “Anxiety Has Really Increased Over the Past 10 Years—But Why?” Bethan Ackerly, New Scientist, April 3, 2024.
How do we manage the anxiety this election is causing?
First, take the long view. When politicians say that this is the most important election in history, it is—for those running! However, our country has had many important elections: George Washington decided not to run for a third term in 1796; the nasty1800 election resulted in the Louisiana Purchase; Jackson’s populism changed politics in 1824; the elections of 1860 and 1864 determined the Civil War; 1876 ended Reconstruction; 1932’s election started the New Deal; 1948’s allowed Truman’s full integration of the armed forces with the shift of the political South; in 1980 Reagan shifted politics to the right; Trump’s election in 2016 started the GOP on the road to the workingman’s party.
Contested presidential elections are not new, either. Losing candidates have claimed the election was “stolen” in 1823, 1876, 1912, 1960, 2000, 2016, and 2020.
A Washington Post article quotes Hillary Clinton in a CBS News interview three years after 2016 dismissing President Trump as an “illegitimate president” and suggested that “he knows” that he stole the 2016 presidential election. (Colby Ikowitz, Sept 26, 2019).
And yet, despite a riot at the Capitol, there has always been a peaceful transfer of power on inauguration day. And I expect a peaceful election and transfer of administrations again this year because the public will not tolerate another debacle.
As a physician I learned long ago that anxiety and stress can cause increases in blood pressure, weight gain or loss, depression, drastic mood changes, sleep struggles. How do we personally reduce anxiety and fears? Start by limiting how much time you spend engaging with political content. If it makes you feel anxious or depressed, stop watching so much CNN, MSNBC, or Fox. Program your smart phone to limit political content. Be aware how you talk about politics at home, work and with friends, especially as the Holidays approach. Don’t make assumptions about other people. It is not worth an irrevocable argument and losing family and friends.
Discuss but don’t argue politics, be open to learning others’ viewpoints and stay respectful. Don’t get angry. Arguments rarely change opinions. If the conversation gets heated, just step away.
Focus on what you can control. If you want to be more politically active, go for it. Study the issues and the candidates and volunteer to help campaigns. It will make you feel useful. If you donate to political candidates, though, expect a million additional solicitation calls and texts with annoying things on your phone.
These solicitations are designed by professionals to trigger your emotions and fears to entice you to donate more. They are designed to make you anxious.
Don’t let the coming election consume your waking thoughts. Take a walk, do other activities, have other interests. See people as complex people, not just members of a party you dislike. Unfortunately, we don’t have a vaccine for “candidate derangement syndrome.”
Finally, if Osler’s lessons on equanimity elude you and the stress and anxiety is overwhelming, recite the Serenity Prayer: ‘God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
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Greg Ganske, MD, Member of Congress (ret) is a retired plastic and reconstructive surgeon who cared for women with breast cancer children with cleft lips, farmers with hand injures and burn patients. He served Iowa in the US Congress from 1995-2003 when he returned to his private practice.
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