Reminders to vote and campaigns for different candidates or causes are practically inescapable as Election Day draws closer, and anxious feelings around elections are on the rise for many.
Dr. Clifton Smith is Banner Behavioral Health’s chief medical officer and senior director. He said the resulting feeling, dubbed election anxiety, is often situational and can be managed.
“If it’s around family members or things of that nature where the talk becomes fairly political and that may not be a comfortable situation,” Smith said, “that you remove yourself is the simplest thing.”
Smith said election anxiety can affect anyone but can especially people with anxiety disorders. The amount of incoming information can be particularly challenging.
“It’s an onslaught, sometimes, and that certainly is difficult for a person who may not have any sort of anxiety disorder," Smith said.
“It certainly will come back around, right?” added Smith. “Because we continue to have elections. And it also depends on the outcomes of [the] election.”
