Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News Feature
  • Published:

Anxiety, depression, headaches — is political polarization bad for your health?

As growing evidence shows that engagement with politics is associated with worsening mental and physical health, a bumper election year and increasing polarization could affect millions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Politics can be bad for your health.

References

  1. Gold, J. KFF Health News https://go.nature.com/3LbSTBw (22 February 2017).

  2. Fraser, T., Panagopoulos, C. & Smith, K. Politics Life Sci. 42, 179–204 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. American Psychological Association. https://go.nature.com/3RUpm2W (7 October 2020).

  4. Ewe, K. Time https://go.nature.com/3RTiZgl (28 December 2023).

  5. Brietzke, E. Trends Psychiatry Psychother. https://doi.org/10.47626/2237-6089-2021-0350 (2023).

  6. Yousafzai, A. W. KMUJ https://doi.org/10.35845/kmuj.2022.22777 (2022).

  7. Brietzke, E. The Conversation https://go.nature.com/3XVdBxn (3 March 2022).

  8. Fraser, T., Aldrich, D. P., Panagopoulos, C., Hummel, D. & Kim, D. PNAS Nexus 1, pgac011 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. American Psychological Association. https://go.nature.com/3L8fFdN (October 2022).

  10. Johnson, A. University of South Florida Newsroom https://go.nature.com/3xLJDRE (31 January 2024).

  11. Smith, K. B., Hibbing, M. V. & Hibbing, J. R. PLoS One 14, e0221870 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Smith, K. B. PLoS One 17, e0262022 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Nayak, S. S., Fraser, T., Panagopoulos, C., Aldrich, D. P. & Kim, D. Soc. Sci. Med. 284, 113976 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Yan, B. W. et al. J. Gen. Intern. Med. 36, 170–177 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Nayak, S. S., Fraser, T., Aldrich, D. P., Panagopoulos, C. & Kim, D. SSM Popul. Health 26, 101662 (2024).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Smith, K., Weinschenk, A. & Panagopoulos, C. J. Elect. Public Opin. Parties 34, 409–426 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Makri, A. Anxiety, depression, headaches — is political polarization bad for your health?. Nat Med 30, 2099–2102 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03136-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03136-x

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing