•  American Psychological Association survey (2020) indicates that Americans are stressed about the Presidential Elections, amidst the looming crisis on healthcare, mass shooting, and immigration.

•  More than half of American adults (56%) believe that the 2020 presidential election is a significant stressor, which is an increase of 4% from the 2016 election cycle. 
• Democrats (in particular) have recognized that the presidency is the greatest source of stress for Americans, hence chanting a slogan, "Make America relaxed again." 
• Most Americans (63%) support the movement against systemic racism and police brutality, and nearly 21% of individuals vote or plan to vote based on the candidate's position on racial injustice.
• Gartner's Research Survey (released in February 2020) revealed the following findings related to the U.S election year and its impact on daily lives.
• The survey indicated that nearly 78% of people talk about politics at work. 
• Around, 47% of people believe that the 2020 presidential election year has impacted their ability to get work done.
• Nearly 31% of individuals who talk politics at work believe that the conversations are “stressful and/or frustrating.”
• Around, 36% of employees believe that they avoid talking to, or working with a co-worker because of their political views.
• According to a Glassdoor poll of 1200 employed adults, around 57% of workers discussed politics on the job, despite the fact that nearly 60% felt that discussing politics at the workplace is unacceptable.
• A survey from the Society for Human Resource Management, reveals that nearly 44% have witnessed political disagreements at work. 
• 1 in 10 working Americans believe that they have experienced differential treatment because of political views (Political Affiliation Bias).

Indirect impact on mental health:

• The mental health of Americans has affected both (i) directly to people who are victims of bias, discrimination, harassment, and (ii) indirectly to masses who witness prevailing injustice which spurs negative emotions such as fear, stress, and depression.
• With the approaching of the 2020 elections, the number of hate crimes increases. In 2019, nearly 421 hate crimes were reported in the New York Metropolitan area, of which more than half were directed towards Jews. [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022167820911757]
• A recent study (2020) indicated that the aftermath of the 2016 elections, resulted in symptoms of depression, higher fear, stress, and anxiety levels, amongst the LGBTQ community, due to increasing experiences of discrimination, and harassment based on sexual orientation.
• During the election campaigns, the presidential candidates instilling fear amongst voters increased the likelihood to be persuaded.
• According to clinicians, 'the election year is very stressful given that their patients use their therapy time to talk about their political concerns, which sometimes mirror with that of the clinician's beliefs. There is a little room left for the therapist left alone in an echo chamber of worries.'  

• According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the dual impact of COVID and election year has been quite overwhelming for a lot of Americans. Nearly 53% believed their mental health was negatively impacted due to stress over coronavirus. 
• The KKF research also indicated other symptoms such as difficulty sleeping (36%) or difficulty eating (32%), increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (12%), and worsening chronic conditions (12%).

Concerns over mail-in ballots

• States where all voters cast their ballots by mail, around 89% Biden supporters prefer this mode of voting, while only 43% of Trump supporters support vote by mail.
• It is estimated that around 160 million Americans are likely to participate in the U.S 2020 elections, of which nearly 75% of registered voters will be eligible to cast their absentee ballot (or mail-in ballot). It is expected that due to the pandemic, nearly half of the registered voters (80 million) will avail the absentee ballot service. 
•  Concerns regarding mail-in ballots are still at large regarding the inadequate logistics, lack of funding to USPS, and the possibility of ballot tampering; all of these factors continue to decrease the faith in the mail-in voting system.

 Election Stress Disorder:

•  Fear and anxiety have been commonly associated with election stress, and have been used synonymously. Fear is a response to a current threat, while anxiety is the worry (or tension) related to possible future events. Both emotions are, however, strong negative responses to the perception of danger.
• Depression related to an election is also common. Chronic stress negatively influences mental health, which contributes to unwanted levels of anxiety, sparking symptoms of sadness, and pessimism.
• A Gartner study indicated that 47% of workers feel distracted from doing their jobs because of the 2020 elections. Of which, 33% believed that they spend more time catching-up with political news at work.
• Another study published in 2018, indicated an alarmingly high level of 2016 election-related distress was prevalent amongst college students, which could be predictive of subsequent PTSD diagnosis.
• In another study, published in a reputed scientific journal, Circulation (in 2020), analyzed hospitalization data (of Southern California.), pre- and post- 2016 presidential elections. The findings indicated that acute stress from the 2016 elections, led to 1.41 times higher risk of hospitalization with Acute Myocardial Infarction. These findings merit the claim by Barbara Bush, who blamed Trump for her heart attack.
• Stress and Depression were reported more amongst women and non-white individuals post-2016 elections.
• Due to chronic stress, a 3% increase rate of pre-term births was recorded amongst Latina women, in the following 9 months post-2016 elections. Both stress, and hesitation to seek prenatal care spiked the pre-term birth rates.
• The concept of fear is indirectly tied with the office of the Presidency, as quoted by Wills, that "bomb power is inseparable from the presidency, we see how tweets like this exacerbated the level of terror and uncertainty among those who don’t support the president and increased the attraction for those who do." 
• According to a statement by Dr. Ann Burnetter from Texas State University, "I'm not surprised that people try to process their reactions to this political season at their workplace. In addition to the inherent drama of an election where opponents want to defeat a divisive incumbent, there are other factors that could be making voters anxious: the reports by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered with the 2016 presidential election (and is likely already interfering in the 2020 election) have created serious concern; the issue of climate change is a grim problem that is distressing for many, and the outbreak of coronavirus has caused extreme worry as people wonder how individuals and the U.S. government should respond." 

Methods to reduce Anxiety and Depression during an Election: 

Methods to cope with election-related anxiety and depression: 

Research Methodology: