Americans believe that exposure to politics harm their physical health, a new study finds. The study found that those on the political right report fewer negative impacts than those on the political left. People holding harsher views on their political opposites also showed negative impacts on their lives. Similarly those frequently discuss politics and are more involved in politics reported similar issues.

Scientists at the Univeristy of Nebraska-Lincoln surveyed 800 respondents through YouGov from March 15 to March 20, 2017 and the results were recently published in the open access journal PLoS One. They asked 32 questions like "I have lost sleep because of politics,” with response ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” The study was designed to test the impact of politics on physical health, emotional health, regretted behavior, and social/lifestyle costs. According to the authors, their goal was "not to ascertain the degree to which politics is objectively causing particular problems but rather the degree to which people perceive politics as the source of those problems."

Considering that their survey is a representation of the American population they extrapolate the finding and conclude that "94 million people believe they have been stressed by politics, 44 million believe they have lost sleep, 28.5 million that their physical health has been adversely affected, and 11 million that politics led them to consider suicide, though particular caution surrounds behaviors that are less common". When the scientists analyzed their data to find out who is most likely to believe politics has a negative impact, they found this subset to be young, unemployed, and less emotionally stable.

About 5 percent of their respondents believed politics caused financial or legal problems and was the reason for them to miss time at work or school.

It may be noted that in a 2017 survey by the American Psychological Association, half of Americans reported that the political climate is a very or somewhat significant source of stress.

The current survey was done immediately after the 2016 general election. It is unclear whether the survey results would have been different if the outcome of the election was opposite. Nevertheless, the authors conclude that a large number of Americans believe politics negatively impact their health, emotion and relationships.