Sickened by Politics? One Easy Cure.
Everyone seems frustrated by the bitterness and polarization in our politics today. But a major report in the Wall Street Journal says that all the angry conflict may damage our physical well-being as well as impacting our emotional state.
A recent survey shows more than 10 percent of Americans saying that politics adversely impacted their health, while nearly 20 percent say they’ve lost sleep, or suffered painful damage to valued friendships because of political disagreements.
Mental health professionals cite increasingly common problems like debilitating depression, teeth grinding at night, and anxiety attacks. Some of them recommend tuning out the news as much as possible, or staying away from social media altogether. I try to promote a less radical step: a deep dive into American history, reading about our country’s amazing, and inspiring past to gain much-needed perspective.
We’ve overcome far more menacing problems than today’s unnecessary impeachment crisis, and those stories should provide encouragement and reduce anxiety.