WSJ.com [paywall] – Citizens in a new study blame U.S. politics for stress, depression, lost sleep and other physical and mental problems….Americans are stressed and politics is a major cause, according to psychologists, psychiatrists and recent surveys. A study published in September in the journal PLOS One found that politics is a source of stress for 38% of Americans. “The major takeaway from this is that if our numbers are really anywhere in the ballpark, there are tens of millions of Americans who see politics as exacting a toll on their social, psychological, emotional and even physical health,” says Kevin Smith, lead author of the study and chair of the political science department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The study included 800 people in a nationally representative poll and asked them 32 questions. Among the findings:

• 11.5% say politics has adversely affected their physical health.
• 18.3% say they’ve lost sleep because of politics.26.4% say they have become depressed when a preferred candidate lost.
• 26.5% say politics has led them to hate some people.
• 20% say differences in views have damaged a valued friendship…”