Election 2020: Terrified to lose and afraid to hope

The majority of American adults say they feel it. The anxiety, the fear, the dread. 

They feel it before bed and when they wake at night, at red lights and in grocery store lines, at desks and dinner tables. Quiet moments are no longer a refuge, but spaces to ruminate, contemplate, to grapple with how risky it is to hope.

Americans are moving through these final seven days with lumps in their throats, trying to quell the unsettling sensation of the in-between. 

Nearly 70% of U.S. adults say the presidential election is a significant source of stress, according to the American Psychological Association's Stress in America survey this month, a dramatic increase from the 2016 election when 52% of Americans said the same. While Democrats are more stressed than Republicans, majorities of both political parties say the contest between President Donald Trump and challenger former Vice President Joe Biden is a significant stressor.

Publish : 2020-10-28 22:01:00

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