|
 Results of a new poll of more than 1,000 adults show that anxiety
levels remained stable for the usual top stress-inducing culprits:
money, jobs and the economy.
But since last spring, psychologists say, their clients have been
talking about a new worry – the 2016 U.S. presidential election and
its aftermath. So in August, the APA, which represents 115,000
psychologists, added to its annual survey a question about the
outcome of the election. More than half, or 52 percent, of 3,511
adults polled said that the hotly contested race triggered a
significant source of stress in their lives.
By January, anxiety over the outcome of the then-settled
presidential election slipped, but it remained at 49 percent, the
survey of 1,019 adults found.
Moreover, the January poll showed a statistically significant
increase in Americans’ stress levels for the first time since the
survey was first conducted 10 years ago.
“There was a sense that there would be a relief after the election,”
said Vaile Wright, a psychologist and member of the team that
designed the survey.
“That relief, that you could exhale all the stress, I think that
hasn’t occurred,” she said in a phone interview.
Two-thirds of Americans reported that they feared for the future of
the nation in January, when they were asked the question for the
first time. Wright described the number as “shocking.”
Also in January, 57 percent of those polled reported that the
current political climate stressed them out.
Fear cut across party lines: 72 percent of Democrats and 59 percent
of Republicans described the future of the U.S. as a significant
source of personal stress.
The poll results mirror what University of Minnesota psychologist
William Doherty said he and his colleagues have seen during therapy
sessions.
About two-thirds of his patients in St. Paul, Minnesota are stressed
about the political climate, and most of the rest are caught up in
their own personal tragedies, he said in a phone interview.
Doherty’s clients who are stressed over politics complain about
trouble sleeping, stomachaches and jaw pain. For example, he said,
one Democrat in her 40s watches the news, sleeps poorly and is
disturbed about a strained relationship with family members who
support Trump.
[to top of second column] |
Wright and other psychologists hoped the anxiety would pass after
the election. In fact, events since Trump’s inauguration on January
20 might have further elevated some patients’ anxiety, Wright said.
Immigrants, children with immigrant parents and Muslim-Americans
feel especially vulnerable, particularly since the president issued
an executive order barring entry into the U.S. for people from seven
Muslim-majority countries, she said.
A federal court has suspended the order, but Trump has said he will
sign another shortly.
Doherty and Wright both recommend that anxious Americans reduce
stress by limiting exposure to news and social media. Doherty also
encourages his patients to find ways to actively participate in the
political process in positive ways.
He recently facilitated a workshop between Democrats and Republicans
to try to bridge the gap. One participant said she planned to be
kinder to strangers; another wrote a check to Planned Parenthood.
“We’re really encouraging people to take an active approach to
managing your stress,” Wright said. “If you know that the news,
social media and twitter feeds make you anxious, give yourself a
break every once in a while.”
“It could mean even taking the apps for these social media off your
phone,” she said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2kUPXvi American Psychological Association,
online February 15, 2017.
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
