Teeth grinding, sleep loss, depression: 38% of Americans say politics are harming their health

Politics are taking a toll on Americans' health, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Psychologists and psychiatrists told The Wall Street Journal they've seen an uptick in patients negatively affected by the nation's increasingly polemic discourse, both emotionally and physically. It has caused flare-ups in multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety — and reignited stress-driven habits like teeth grinding. One woman interviewed by The Wall Street Journal needed dental implants because political stress had her grinding her teeth so much. 

There's more than anecdotal evidence that politics have become a major stressor. The Wall Street Journal cites a new poll published in PLOS One that found 38 percent of respondents were stressed by U.S. politics, and 11.5 percent said it has negatively affected their health. An annual survey conducted by the American Psychological Association tracked a jump of 6 percentage points in Americans concerned about the future of the country between 2017 and 2018, according to the report.

Read the full story on how politics are affecting health here.

 

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