Election Stress Disorder

I read a few comments online recently from people regarding their feelings of anxiety before the upcoming federal election and their worries about the outcome of the election. Most were concerned about social cohesion and importantly, how the rights of others would be affected with regard to things like work, education, health, taxes and fairness for the majority of the population if the Coalition were elected into government. Anxiety and stress before an election is normal to a certain degree. We always want 'our team' to win and be in government for another three years and would be disappointed if this didn't happen. Heightened anxiety and stress in this instance would likely be related to the incessant negativity they have encountered online, in the media, radio and television. It's everywhere and it is debilitating.

In the last two decades it has become more frenetic and wearing - not just on people who are politically active, but for the entire country.

In the last decade it has become something of a rat-run of right-wing propaganda supported by a good proportion of media outlets in this country. In the last three years of Labor government, it has reached levels of alarming and jagged sound bites of constant misinformation, disinformation and lies - at times with a sprinkling of fact to give the narrative some authenticity - at other times an all-out assault of bullshyte repeated over and over again until it permeates into a public mass consciousness.

A good proportion of the population tune out to politics while going about their everyday lives and only react to something if it either affects them, a family member or someone they know directly and/or speaks to them emotionally. The media know that for the most part political apathy reigns supreme when juggling every-day lives and struggles - but couple their struggles with their experiences, beliefs and frustrations - and create a believable narrative of relatability - and you've got yourself a knee-slapping, pitchfork-carrying culture war.

We have been slammed with culture wars and division on steroids ever since Peter Dutton took the reins of leadership of the opposition. While manipulation of the narrative and outright lies has been a feature of the Coalition for years, it has plumbed new depths of toxicity in Labor's first term of government. The constant negativity and hostility created deliberately by Dutton has given rise to some of the worst division and fear-stoking compilations I have ever witnessed. Emboldened by the Trumpian movement in the United States, it has also allowed the toxicity of opinion to rise online and offline. It has allowed an anything-goes atmosphere - and every axe-grinding nutjack with an unreliable cause has embraced their democratic right to candidacy.

People are not just tired and anxious, they are exhausted from the barrage of bullshyte.

It is no doubt THE go-to strategy to divide and continue to create chaos & confusion for Dutton - because fk knows in the flat-pack of personality, Dutton scores a ten out of ten for misaligned assembly and zero empathy for the discombobulation of the assemblers. For somebody who could quite likely metaphorically crack a mirror at 10 paces if he so much as grimaced, Dutton is not going to win over the electorate on charisma and charm any time now or into the future. His past history of thuggery, duplicity and bullying follows him like the malodorous stench of a rancid tin of 20-year-old dog food.

In the United States, they even have a name for it. Election stress disorder. Considering what has happened in the US in the last 12 months, I'm not surprised. It isn't a scientific term but it is a shared reality for many people. A relatable top five terms caused anxiety and stress - misinformation and disinformation, election outcome, more political violence aimed at politicians, polarisation and social division and media coverage and bias. Not surprisingly they all scored high, with misinformation and disinformation coming in at the top. Women were likely to be impacted more than men. Of course, it is only a small study, but it gives us an insight into how the narrative around politics affects us.

I believe this continued narrative is pushed by vested interests - and is purposely negative and chaotic. It is designed to cause confusion, anger and division in our society and is highly emotive. It's not new. The methods of delivery, however, are now more all-encompassing than ever before. It is difficult to escape from unless we abscond from the net, television, radio and media entirely and purposefully live out our lives in oblivion on an environmentally self-funded and self-sufficient island - and even then the world events that we are trying to avoid will catch up with us sooner or later.

Dutton is purposely negative. He made the commitment to be divisive and negative on his first day in politics. Read his maiden speech for more context. He has demonstrated his negativity and divisiveness quite openly since then. Whether learned or inherent, Dutton understood that his pathway to power and influence didn't involve cohesive social values, inclusion, unity and the coming together of community to support the less fortunate. His intent is to keep people divided and at war with each other for the benefit of control and power of a few individuals - which includes himself.

Personally, I think the idea of somebody like Dutton in charge of an entire country when he runs his election campaign like bumbledorf and can't can't even keep a lid on his aggression when called out on his bumbledorfing - should be ringing alarm bells. Fortunately I feel that many have heard them despite the incredibly toxic campaign that has been run by the Coalition and associated numpties such as Advance, the ACL, the fossil fuel industry and Clive Palmer.

Social cohesion, democracy, equality and fairness are the antithesis to Dutton's strategy. It will be some time before we are not feeling anxious over current world events - but with good fortune and a belief that Trump has well and truly given the majority of voters an idea of the chaos that Dutton is conditioning in the electorate - they will stick with a safer alternative tomorrow.

Reference: Thriving Centre of Psychology: Political anxiety statistics.

Reference: The Australia Institute.

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