If you thought presidential election seasons were tumultuous in the past, brace yourself for Election 2020.
The 24-hour news cycle, smartphones and ubiquity of social media have caused politics to invade Americans’ lives in ways that have upended their sense of calm and left many constantly on edge.
In a newly published study, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Professor Kevin Smith found that following the 2016 presidential election, 38% of people in a nationally representative sample felt stressed-out by politics, with 26% experiencing depression and 21% a lack of sleep. Nearly 30% reported they lost their temper over the topic and 20% said that political disagreements cost them friendships. About 4% even said it made them consider suicide, a figure representing about 10 million Americans.
“Political interest and engagement is typically viewed as a good thing — a civic virtue,” says Smith, the Leland J. and Dorothy H. Olson Chair of Political Science and department chair. “But we found tens and tens of millions of Americans perceive it as exacting a significant toll on their social, psychological and physical health.”