4 out of 10 Americans feel stressed because of politics, a recent poll discovered. One in five had a fight with a friend because of political disagreements, and 4% even reported having suicidal thoughts.
Sick and stressed
It’s hard to escape politics in our time when we hear about it not only from the news but also via social media. Even if you wanted to stir clear, it’s hard to achieve.
In relationships with Russian women political issues could break your connection, which had been reported by many ladies on Elenasmodels: The pair starts chatting but then the guy says something demeaning about Russia or Putin, and she doesn’t want to hear anything from him ever again.
You may have an opinion about a lady’s country but it’s best to keep it to yourself, at least until such time you have seen it with your own eyes when visiting your girlfriend and found out firsthand what is going on there. Until then, assume you know nothing and listen but not judge. Of course, there are lots of things that aren’t right, but there are still many things that are good and some are probably working better than in your country.
For instance, western men are amazed at how cheap are homes in Ukraine. But it totally makes sense: If the wages are 5 times lower than in western countries, then the cost of homes would be comparable, so people can still afford to buy a place to live. The problem is when people start making judgements based on incomplete or distorted facts, this is where political disagreements are likely to occur.
The impact of politics on health
In fact, even having all the facts about the local issues the Americans who were surveyed pointed out that discussing politics is fraught with danger: 1 in 5 said it damaged a relationship with a friend.
- Over 11% of respondents stated that politics had an adverse impact on their physical health.
- Nearly 30% of respondents lost their temper discussing political issues.
- 1 in 5 is losing sleep over politics.
- Nearly 40% of respondents said it was stressing them out.
- 3 out of 10 respondents admitted that it drives them crazy to see or hear stories promoting views they do not support.
- 4% reported having suicidal thoughts because of political issues (in the scale of the USA, it would be 10 million people).
The study took questionnaires used to gather information about the health impact of addiction to gambling and alcohol, as no prior research looking at the impact of politics on physical and mental wellbeing was done before.
It looks like politics is turning into another modern vice we are better off to avoid being too passionate about. Especially when looking for a significant other in another country!
Read also:
- Why Ukrainian women want to marry Americans?
- Parenting makes Americans less happy — Research
- 3.6 thousand Ukrainians moved permanently to the USA in 2019
- Ukrainians to get easier access to Canada
I’m an American. I get so dadgum sick and tired of the media doing politics all the time, so I just gave up the news.
I’ve worked in other countries and there are a few aspects I’ve come across that expat don’t take into account when working in foreign countries. One is education where the local population don’t have access to the same educational standards as the expats and the expats make the assumption the locals are dumb. Another is the “my country is awesome so yours must be crap” theory. I’ve had this conversation with a fella from the USA. His country was so much better. I said to him “how’s that free education, medical and hospital coming along?”. It costs me nothing to… Read more »
“Stuff I have no real idea about”. Awesome idea! I love it. When I travel, I remain humble. I am a guest in another country. They have the right to run their culture as they see fit. How it compares to the US or any other culture/country is somewhat irrelevant. I find the differences interesting, and so enjoy the experiences with no judgments. When a native asks what I think of their country, I highlight the positive points that I see, and I mention the differences that I see, but without judging those differences as “bad” or “worse than” my… Read more »
The American public is quite diverse but despite the alleged educational advantage, my fellow Americans are quite ignorant about most things political. They only know the last sound byte they heard on the radio or TV. The proof of my allegation is in who they elect repeatedly despite the track record of government failure at every level. Ours is the most expense fraud in the universe. It is the immature, baseless, and continued arguing over nothing by politicians that drives stress in the unknowing. The two parties are different in name only; no matter which party is in charge, the… Read more »