An article over on the Huffington Post today chronicles the health toll election stress is taking on African American voters.
One woman in this article indicates that her doctor suggested she up her hypertension medication until after the election:
When an election gets this personal, it creates anxiety. Last week, Marshall visited her physician, who recommended increasing the dose of her hypertension medicine until after the election. "My doctor said many of her African American patients had higher than normal blood pressure readings this month, mostly due to the election," Marshall told OffTheBus through the Eyes and Ears feature.
Though I do not have high blood pressure, my stress during these final weeks of the election have exacerbated another medical condition I have known as psuedo-tumor cerebri. I've been having high pressure headaches for weeks.
While like everyone else who is voting for Barack Obama, we all know so much is at stake--our retirement, our jobs, the war, healthcare--for many African Americans this election IS a referendum on our existence in this country:
Dr. Norm Oliver has observed the same phenomenon in his practice. "Many African Americans have become emotionally involved in Senator Obama's bid for the presidency, and it's creating stress. If he wins, we win. If he loses, it feels like a victory for racism. As you might imagine, this makes the stakes very high and very personal. Watching the polls has become an anxiety-producing activity."
This is one of the (many) things that makes me so angry with the McCain/Palin ticket and what made me so angry about the race-baiting during the primaries. If McCain ran a clean campaign and attacked only on the real issues, then even if Obama were to lose I would not feel as if the entire country had rejected Obama on the basis of race. I would feel that even though Obama is African American that he lost on the basis of the the argument rather than on the worst, most base, narrative in our culture.
This is our moment in time. Let's be more than we thought we could be--and it will literally change minds and it will change lives. So many of don't believe, or didn't believe, that there was anything in this country for us. It might sound simplistic to some--but Obama is convincing an entire generation of people that they can actually participate and transform their nation. This is an enormous feat.
I believe that we will win. But waiting for that confirmation is nerve-racking and as it seems for some African Americans (and I suspect some others as well) health-endangering. I hope we can all come out of the next give days with our sanity. The HuffPo piece ends with some advice about relaxing:
The high pitch of a presidential election in its final days is enough to rattle anyone's composure. If you have hypertension, please remember to check your blood pressure regularly. Also try to keep the election in perspective: neither candidate is as good or as bad as he seems. Dr. Oliver offers the following relaxation tips:
-- Cut back on watching the news, especially shows that focus on election coverage.
-- Go for a walk, because walking delivers some of the same benefits as anti-depressants.
-- Spend time with family and friends just to have fun, and don't talk about politics.
-- Pray, meditate, or engage in some other relaxing endeavor.
-- Be proactive: volunteer to work on election day.
I find the last item to be the "relaxing" because it allows me to feel as if I am doing something to further the cause. Here's to victory and post-election low blood pressure.