Effects Of Politics On Mental Health

The effects of politics on mental health are increasingly evident in the population. We have reached a point where a good part of the voters are losing their trust in the (supposed) political elite. Suddenly, they no longer seem to be those social agents capable of solving our problems. The panorama, in addition, is becoming more complex at times.

Every day we wake up with a barrage of news on this matter. The social barometer has its focus these days in Chile, where a state of emergency has been decreed as a result of the latest protests. The United Kingdom is finishing the final steps of Brexit almost by leap. Catalonia, for its part, is also experiencing a few days of disturbances after the “procés” sentence.

Canada, too, is now going through a period of electoral uncertainty after its prime minister, Justin Trudeau (one of today’s most highly valued politicians) was attributed a case of political corruption. For most of us it is impossible to remain oblivious to each news item, each headline and image, because we live hyperconnected, because the news is transmitted to the second and immediacy is the order of the day. What happened yesterday is no longer current.

It is almost inevitable to open one of our social networks to publish the last photo of our cat or any topic of the most innocuous and inconsequential so that, soon, we feel like it. We see “fired” comments from our real or virtual friends, family, and co-workers on certain current issues, and we often get scared.

Do they really think that way? Where does that anger come from? These and other questions are the ones that assail us in recent years; something that experts have been studying for a long time . Let’s see more data below.

What are the effects of politics on mental health?

There are those who feel jaded, others bored, some who experience total indifference to politics and many others defend their firm convictions. We all have one opinion or another about the socio-political context that our country is experiencing, as well as neighboring countries, and this is expected and even positive. Now, what is no longer so is that all those scenarios governed by our politicians affect our emotions and psychological balance.

The effects of politics on mental health are already evident. As much as it may surprise us, this phenomenon has more and more obvious consequences. A study in the scientific journal PLOS ONE revealed this to us just a month ago. Thus, in this work at the University of Nebraska by Dr. Kevin B. Smith, he indicates the following:

• 20% have lost a friendship or close relationship with a family member because of politics.
• 31.8% say that looking at the media with points of view contrary to their own causes them stress and discomfort.
• 22.1% of the population is very concerned that a certain political party will win the elections.
• 11% have experienced a health problem related to politics (especially significant in the United States).
• People with bipolar disorder suffer the most from the effect of politics in their lives.

In addition to these data, which are understandable by themselves, there are also other factors that are worth considering.

Socio-political context based on provisionality

Our political scenarios are, so to speak, increasingly ‘colorful’. The great hegemonic red and blue blocks have given way to new formations that undoubtedly represent new needs and perspectives of the population. Something like this generates that we have constituted a political scene based on multipartism.

This phenomenon, that of multipartism, is an increasingly common reality in Europe. Which causes great problems when forming a government, where disputes and instability are common. In the midst of this scenario, where every citizen expects agreements for the common good, what we see most often are ineffective strategies for citizens because they are only destined to gain power.

Emotional blackmail in the political class

Another mental health effect of politics is the constant use of emotional blackmail. Kevin Smith, a political scientist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the author of a study on the same topic published in 2016, points out the following. ” If you look at the heart and soul of the political class today, you will see a highly problematic background .”

One of the strategies that our politicians often use is the “emotional inflammation”. They resort to practices as basic as to provoke our anger and our anger against the adversary. They brand each other incompetent, threaten future catastrophic events in case the opposing party wins. The ultimate goal is none other than to get the vote.

However, is this strategy effective? The answer is no. Emotional blackmail does not urge the majority of voters to go to the polls ; because it generates it is boredom, exhaustion, skepticism and stress. This is a reality that is intensifying over the years and of which not only political scientists, sociologists and psychologists are aware.

We have reached a point where the political class, who should be the elite in terms of competence, example and inspiration, have in many cases become the problem and not the solution. We could give several examples of this behavior, but surely you, restless reader, have already come up with several.