What is the influence of politics on mental health?

Let's look at the impact of politics on the mental health of citizens.

Politics has a great influence on our lives, being one of the central elements of the society in which we live.

Therefore, it is inevitable that, in one way or another, it affects people at very different levels. One of them is mental health. In this article we will try to analyze this relationship between politics and mental health and thus to discover the effects that it can exert, both negative and positive, if any.

How does politics influence mental health and emotional balance?

The question of the influence of politics on mental health is broad and complex, so it can be studied from different perspectives. Therefore, in these lines we are going to deal with some of these effects, but this does not mean that they are the only ones, far from it, since other additional approaches could be considered.

The fact is that politics, or what amounts to the same thing, the art of governing, is an axis of our lives, even if we are involved in it to a greater or lesser extent.. Because of this issue, it is difficult to abstract from the totality of its effects. Each individual will be affected to a different degree or through different channels, but what is certain is that all citizens, by the fact of living in a society, are affected by politics.

In any case, we are going to review what we consider to be the main ways in which politics influences mental health. Although we will look at each in depth later, we will first list these different possibilities. One of them will be the one that has to do with the possible psychological effects of exposure to political issues in the media..

Another, of enormous importance, will be the decisions taken by those in power regarding health, and more specifically, those covering the field of mental health. Finally, we will analyze another issue related to the influence of politics on mental health, and that is the after-effects suffered by politicians themselves as a result of their profession.

In the following, we will deal with each of these points separately, trying to go deeper into each of these very different approaches, but all of them being part of the central theme, which is the influence of politics on mental health.

Psychological effects of politics on citizens

As we mentioned in the introduction, one of the most visible forms of political influence on mental health is that which has to do with the psychological effects that people suffer as a consequence of not only the decisions made by those in power at any given time, but also the political climate in society, not only of the decisions taken by those in power at any given time, but also of the political climate in society..

In this sense, it is necessary to distinguish different variables that are involved in this problem. First of all, not everyone is equally interested in the political affairs of their region or country. Moreover, not everyone will be affected in the same way by certain decisions, since certain laws only affect specific sectors.

Thirdly, there are the personal variables of each individual, which can make them more or less resilient and they can count on certain resources to assume situations, for example, stressful ones, without suffering certain consequences that others, in a similar scenario, would feel.

We see that the influence of politics on mental health is direct, simply by the fact of living in a community. But also, this effect is accentuated if the person tends to be exposed to these issues through the media or social networks, especially in recent times.especially in recent times.

It is evident that in societies such as Spain's, the political landscape has entered a state of polarization and tension in which each party tries to influence its voters in an extreme way, rivaling the other parties at a level of aggressiveness that would make some sports club fans, accustomed to confrontations with the opposing crowd, blush.

This state of tension generates psychological effects in many individuals, who may experience symptoms compatible with depression or anxiety, among others. Obviously, if the socioeconomic situation at a given moment is particularly unstable, due to a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the influence of politics on mental health aggravates its effects even more.

Are these effects inevitable? Not entirely. Obviously, the individual lives in society and is therefore exposed to all the information related to the political landscape, but what he or she can perform is a certain amount of stimulus control.

What does this mean? That the person will be able, at least in part, to reduce his presence in social networks, his review of the press, news and other media through which he constantly receives a type of information that is generating stress. We cannot forget the world we live in, but we can control to some extent the degree of exposure to which we are subjected.

Political decisions about mental health

But the influence of politics on mental health does not end there. This first point would be an indirect way of affecting citizens on a psychological level. But we cannot forget that the policy itself must be responsible for managing the resources invested in each area, including, of course, health care..

And within healthcare, the area that concerns us is that of mental health. Therefore, any law, decision, budget, which has to do with this area, will be a direct demonstration of the influence of politics on mental health.

It is evident that the more resources that are allocated to treating and preventing psychopathologies, the lower the prevalence of many mental disorders will be and this will have a direct impact on the well-being of citizens, both for those who do not develop an illness and for those who manage to have it treated and controlled.

Nor should we forget the relatives of people with severe mental illness, and therefore dependent on them, who often feel helpless by the system due to the lack of resources they receive. This is another example of the forms that the influence of politics can take on mental health, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly.

If we now focus on the most serious and dramatic cases, such as those psychopathologies that lead the individual to self-harming attempts and even to attempting to take his or her own life, we find another of the fundamental connections between political decisions and health, in this case mental health. According to statistics, almost ten people commit suicide every day in Spain..

This is an absolute drama, which sometimes does not receive all the attention it deserves. Obviously, each case will be particular, but many of them will be related to psychopathologies that, perhaps, if they had been treated in time or even prevented, would not have ended in such a terrible way. That is why we should not overlook the tremendous influence of politics on mental health in this regard.

Psychological effects on politicians

We have already been able to review some of the psychological effects that politics generates in citizens, through different mechanisms. We have also learned about the repercussions that political decisions in the area of healthcare can have on the mental health of individuals. But there is yet another issue that also involves the influence of politics on mental health.

This is the psychological effects suffered by politicians themselves, or at least some of them, as a result of the performance of their duties, at the front line of this sector. It is obvious that, as with any position of responsibility, this work can involve wear and tear that will be more or less pronounced depending on the tools the person has, as we have seen. depending on the tools that the person has, as we have already seen.

A fundamental characteristic in this sense would be resilience, the ability to overcome adverse situations, such as the constant tension generated by the knowledge that the welfare of millions of fellow citizens depends on one's own activity, which can be a huge stressor.

The economic situation may increase this effect or attenuate it, assuming that instead of a crisis scenario, society is in a moment of economic prosperity.. In any case, it is a form of political influence on mental health that we should take into account.

Bibliographical references:

• Jané-Llopis, E. (2004). The effectiveness of mental health promotion and prevention of mental disorders. Journal of the Spanish Association of Neuropsychiatry.
• Jimeno, J.C.P. (2020). The psychological effects of COVID-19. Archives of the Spanish Society of Ophthalmology. Elsevier.
• Navarro-Gómez, N. (2017). Suicide in young people in Spain: numbers and possible causes. Analysis of the latest available data. Clínica y Salud. Elsevier.
• Vince, R. (2010). Anxiety, politics and critical management education. British Journal of Management. Wiley Online Library.