CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The upcoming election has neighbors buzzing, but the campaign ads, rhetoric, and uncertainty about the future are affecting the public's mental health. Neighborhood News reporter Tony Jaramillo spoke with an expert and local voters to see how election anxiety impacts our outlook on the election.Marigail Reyna, a local voter, said, "Honestly, yeah. Just a little bit. Especially in the national presidential election, just because there has been violence in the past, and it’s just grown in the past few years."
"Not as far as we're concerned," they said. There are a lot of people who seem to worry about it, but we don’t," said Patrick and Christina McGee.These different voters had differing opinions about their fears or concerns about the upcoming election results. Those fears are very real. A recent study by the American Psychological Association found that 74% of Americans have concerns about the potential for widespread election-related violence.
Political analyst Dr. David Smith said, "I think we're seeing an exhaustion and almost apathetic stance from the average voters because they're tired of hearing about the divisiveness in the political scene."
Smith also believes specific groups within parties experience more anxiety than others. "The more entrenched Democrat on the left or the more entrenched Republican on the right, I think there’s more anxiety in their ballot casting. But the average moderate voter, I don't think there's as much anxiety."
The people Tony Jaramillo agreed on one point. Patrick and Christina McGee said, "You always have fringe groups on both sides that are going to do things, some for attention, some for their own fears and anxieties. As for us, we're not worried overall."
Reyna added, "Polarization is a really big issue. My biggest hope is that we can all come together, sit at a table, and just talk. If I were to say otherwise, I think that's where that main source of violence, fear, and anxiety really comes from."
Dr. David Smith says the silver lining is that even if your candidate doesn’t win, you've heard your voice, and maybe you'll see a better candidate or platform in the next election.
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