Are You Suffering From Election Anxiety?

"I can't take much more of this. Two weeks to go, and I'm at the end of my rope. I can't work. I can eat, but mostly standing up. I'm anxious all the time and taking it out on my ex-wife, which, ironically, I'm finding enjoyable. This is like waiting for the results of a biopsy. Actually, it's worse. Biopsies only take a few days, maybe a week at the most, and if the biopsy comes back positive, there's still a potential cure. With this, there's no cure. The result is final. Like death. Five times a day I'll still say to someone, "I don't know what I'm going to do if McCain wins." Of course, the reality is I'm probably not going to do anything. What can I do? I'm not going to kill myself. If I didn't kill myself when I became impotent for two months in 1979, I'm certainly not going to do it if McCain and Palin are elected, even if it's by nefarious means. ..."

That's how Larry David described the anxiety he's feeling these days over the presidential election on HuffPost.

Maybe you've got a prescription for the pain, like Wende Marshall. Her doctor instructed her to take more hypertension meds until Nov. 5.

"The McCain-Palin Campaign's vicious smearing of Obama is literally making people sick. My blood pressure has been higher than normal. It rises precipitously every time I read the blogs or watch the news. I saw my physician last week and she said that many of her black women patients were experiencing higher than normal blood pressures. She recommended that we double the dose of our hypertension meds until Obama wins."

What about you? Tell us how the election is specifically impacting you. Use your best prose. We may profile your submission on OffTheBus and the Huffington Post's Living page.

Use this Survey Monkey form to share your stories.

Follow Amanda Michel on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AmandaRMichel

Comments

[TheAnti-Bush]

So, does anyone know? Did Larry David make it to Tues. evening?

[DIGABLE75]

I FEEL IF PENNSILVANIA BRINGS IT ON HOME FOR US, WE WILL BE O.K. , I THINK. THEY ARE TRYING TO TAKE PENN. GUYS, DON'T LET THEM TAKE THOSE 21 VOTES!

[DIGABLE75]

I REALLY THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY PERSON FEELING LIKE THIS. I TRY TO CONCENTRATE ON OTHER THINGS BUT I'M SO NERVOUS ABOUT THIS ELECTION I'M NOT ABLE TO SLEEP, PUT DOWN THE REMOTE, OR EAT. IT'S CRAZY. I WANT TO BE SO HAPPY FOR OBAMA BUT I'M SO SCARED THE ELECTION WILL BE TAKEN FROM HIM OR SOMETHING MAY HAPPEN TO HIM. TUESDAY CAN'T COME FAST ENOUGH.

[Stunatra]

I don't have anxiety, but I will be quite nervous on election day.

GOBAMA!!!

http://stunatra.blogspot.com/

[Geriann2]

Well, I just got back home from voting for Obama and like most of you, I am a nervous wreck. I want this to be over. I live in a very small community and the polling pkace was packed!! I couldn't believe how many people were there, especially since they have been voting now for almost two weeks!
Anyway, I haven't been this excited about anything since I started my hormones.........GO BARACK!!

[greencosmopolitan]

with all the negative news going around that obama may not win even with the margin he has now. So many news sources talking about the 'what ifs'' is making me so nervous.

I just pray and hope that Americans have learned their lesson from the past 8 years and the messes (yes plural )we are in today.

I hope Obama is our POTUS come Tuesday!

[kroses98]

That's just RePUKE propaganda! He's winning!!!!!!!

[stalzz]

I, too am worried about what will happen. I get upset easily these days anyway, and If by some stroke of bad luck Obama loses, I will be sad for a long long time because we need a major overhaul in Washington. Bush and his gang of crooks, thieves and war mongering liars have damaged this country nearly irreparably after 8 years of their madness. Let's hope for the best! GO OBAMA!

[spell]

I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't concentrate on my work, and I obsessively check the polls at least 10 times per day. When I do sleep, I dream uneasily of headlines in world papers: "How Can So Many Americans Be So Stupid?" or "They Did It Again!" I imagine having to listen to "bring 'em to 'ya" and "ya betcha" in that nails-on-a-chalkboard voice for the next 4 years, and see in my mind's eye WORSE, but likely, repercussions of Sarah Palin getting anywhere near the White House. I despair over the future of the Supreme Court and our planet and our education system and our health care system and our energy supplies. The list goes on and on.

I think thoughtful people are extra anxious this time around because "we" (somebody, somewhere, nobody I know) made such disastrous choices in the last two elections. And also because Barack Obama represents, IMHO, the last, best chance for this nation to reclaim its greatness . . . yet a little under half of American voters JUST DON"T GET THAT.

With all that said, I still have HOPE, and am donating, volunteering, driving people to the polls on Tuesday, etc. etc. etc. Let's all try to keep the faith, fellow HuffPosters. Let us say to ourselves: WE SHALL PREVAIL and make it so . . .

[Rhonda864]

The only thing that's been getting me through the days these last couple of months has been listening to progressive talk and watching Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. I can't take CNN and I never, under any circumstances, watch Fox. All I can say is I'm hopeful, but not over confident. It's not over til the fat lady sings (which will be McCain giving his concession speech).

[kroses98]

I agree. And I'm also watching Chris Matthews, who has made a wonderful turn-around, mostly because he wants to run for the senate against Arlen Specter next year. (I'm also taking an antidepressant which helps!)

[bushlies]

I don't just FEEL that the Repugs will do anything to snatch this election. I KNOW they will.

I live in Florida.

[Star2000dancer]

Yes, and that is why we must eliminate the neo, new Republican party forever.

[elan4444]

Not watching the news anymore, it's all redundant. Not even the radio. Just put on some Mozart. . .Guaranteed to restore sanity.

[UncivilLibertarian]

Mozart? I prefer A Perfect Circle, Made out of Babies, and please don't laugh, "Tom Sawyer" by Rush. Still, I agree. As much as I love politics, I am finally succumbing to election fatigue. Can't we just go on and get Obama inaugurated already? His lead in the polls is insurmountable by every realistic measure, and a blue tide looks to sweep the land.

[Emlyn]

I try not to listen to the news on TV. When I turn on my programs, all the commercials are political. I broke the mute button on my last remote; probably will do so on this one.

[dimelaverdad]

I have had to turn off the news as I know it. It's very soft Good Morning America now. Thats all I can stomach. Feel good stories, and simple DIY tips. I do sneak at work and I always read the Huffpost emails, and of course before Mr. Verdad gets home I check out the news online, but I get so riled up. Headaches and Chest pains the last few days...I'm so anxious.

[LizzieTish]

Worried doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. I am terrified that we'll have a president who has willingly sold his soul to the far right to gain office; who's chosen an unqualified right-wing nutcase as his VP... a president who's itching for a fight to feel like he's got his mojo back; a guy who had better hire a food taster to prevent "ACCIDENTS".
Anyone have any idea what will happen to the stock market if McCain wins? He's explained that the economy is not his strength - and that he'd have to depend on his VP as his economic guru.
Worried doesn't cut it. Worried is what I have been for the past 8 years. I'm thinking this is now just plain fear. Every time I feel it rising I make a donation to Obama. That's why he's got unprecedented contributions ... people are making donations instead of buying illicit drugs to handle this.

[shirleen01]

Yes it sometimes feel like the republicans are doing everything in their power to steal this one from us.