In Case You Haven't Heard

There's actual scientific proof that voting is stress ‐inducing, according to research published in 2011 by researchers at Ben‐Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) who determined that voting is a stressful event and induces measurable hormonal changes, according to a Nov. 4 university press release. “Our data demonstrated that elections are excit ing, yet stressful events, and it is this stress that raises the cortisol levels of voters,” according to Professor Hagit Cohen from the Anxiety and Stress Research Unit at BGU's Faculty of Health Sciences. “Faced with stressful experiences such as uncertainty or novelty, we found that the adren al glands secrete glucocorticoid hormones to help us cope with stress.” In the groundbreaking 2011 study published in the journalEuropean Neuropsychopharmacology, researchers found that the level of cortisol — a hormone secreted in times of stress to help the body cope with threats — was nearly three times higher just before voting than the cortisol level of the control group, and nearly twice their level 21 months later. Professor Cohen added, “Since we do not like to feel ‘stressed out,’ it is unclear whether this pressure on Election Day can influence people and cause them not to vote at all. Impact on voter turnout is particularly important given that the stress levels rise if our preferred party or candidate for whom we want to vote is not popular in the polls and projections.”
Source: Mental Health Weekly - Category: Psychiatry Tags: In Case You Haven't Heard Source Type: research