The Public Health Problem Hiding in Plain Sight

Chapter 3 argues that political stress in the United States meets the scale, severity, and social impact criteria of a genuine public health problem. Using four nationally representative surveys conducted during the 2024 election, the authors measure political stress with a modified six-item index derived from the Political Stress Scale. The data reveal that politics negatively affects the well-being of tens of millions of Americans, causing stress, lost sleep, temper loss, and conflict among family and friends. Crucially, these effects remain remarkably stable throughout the year, even amid major political shocks such as Joe Biden's withdrawal and the Trump assassination attempt. The chapter concludes that political stress functions as a chronic, population-level condition largely independent of general anxiety or depression. It thus reframes politics as not only a divisive social force but only a persistent health burden impacting both individual welfare and collective civic life.