There’s a story over at Vox, from Brian Resnick, reporting that ‘Election anxiety is real. A majority of Americans report “significant stress” due to 2016.’
Resnick writes that
[t]he American Psychological Association has released some preliminary data from its upcoming annual “Stress in America” report, on the nation’s level of anxiety specifically around this election.Around half of people surveyed (52 percent) say the election “is a very or somewhat significant” source of stress in their lives. The breakdown by party is about even: 59 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Democrats say this election is causing them stress.
There’s much at stake, but nationally, statewide, or locally there’s no reason for anxiety over November 8th’s results. We’re a resilient people, having been through conditions far more difficult than those we face today. We’ve come through a revolution, a civil war, two world wars, a cold war, a depression, a great recession, and significant periods of protest until legal reform. We’re more than able to manage the current elections, whatever their results.
Far from being a source of anxiety, our exercise of fundamental rights should be a source of confidence for us.
Think too much about today, and the sky might seem to be falling. Look back even briefly at our history, and one has cause for equanimity.