Study shows politics is a source of stress impacting mental well-being
The study showed that stress caused voters to lose sleep over the last month.
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Local voters say they are stressed about the upcoming presidential election.
A recent study by the University of South Florida found that politics is a source of stress for nearly two-thirds of registered voters leading to negative impacts on their mental well-being.
In the study, 15% of registered voters say that politics even caused them to lose sleep over the last month.
"You're living in very difficult times right now," said a man in Norwalk. Voters say they are concerned about key issues in this year's presidential race like the economy, immigration and border security. "This is one of the few times when I think everything’s on the table," said Hiram Matthews from Norwalk. Voters say they are stressed about the two candidates -- President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The University of South Florida study found nearly a third of polled voters say that politics has caused conflict among their friends and within their own families. Doctor Benjamin Bernstein, a clinical psychologist at Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, says we look at most situations in our lives in terms of relationships. "If we saw that one of our parents was having criminal issues, and the other parent there had questions about aging, that would freak us out. And so seeing that again in our national family we don't know what's going to happen going forward," said Bernstein.
Bernstein offers this advice. "You don't have control over the outcome of the election, don't put too much time into watching and consuming media about it," said Bernstein.
Voters say they even distrust the integrity of our elections both local and national. They say the political environment on social media is a negative added stress.
