While looking up some information in order to respond to some thread comment, I came across the news that Washington State has suspended it 2012 primary elections as cost saving measure ($10 million savings). 

The Pacific Northwest state will rely on a precinct caucus-convention system, used by Iowa for nominating national convention delegates, the Washington Secretary of State's office said.

With what may be something from the Department of Too Much Information, I have recently had to start a new regiment of prescribe pharmaceuticals (better living through chemistry) to deal with, among other things, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).  Being the one to ponder political phenomenon among other things (with no assertion as to the quality of those ponderings), this has me thinking about the impact of anxiety on the political environment, and specifically on participation in such events as precinct caucus system.

For discussion purposes, let me offer some statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health.

According to the US Census, there are 234,564,000 people in the U.S. who are 18 years of age or older.  According to the NIMH, 18.1% of American adults suffer from some form of Anxiety Disorder, which would constitute over 42,456,084 adults.  Moreover, 22.8% of those people are classified as suffering a severe form of the anxiety, which translates into amounts to close to 9,679,987 adults.

Moreover, only 36.9 % of those 42 million adults are receiving treatment, and of these 34.3% are receiving only minimal treatment.  This means that aside from the 26,789,789 who are receiving no treatment for their anxiety, another 5,373,539 are receiving minimal treatment for their affliction.

There are a wide variety of anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and specific phobias to name a few. Collectively they are among the most common mental disorders experienced by Americans.  Two of these specific anxieties are GAD and Social Anxiety (or Social Phobia).

People with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) go through the day filled with exaggerated worry and tension, even though there is little or nothing to provoke it. They anticipate disaster and are overly concerned about health issues, money, family problems, or difficulties at work. Sometimes just the thought of getting through the day produces anxiety.

People with GAD can’t seem to get rid of their concerns, even though they usually realize that their anxiety is more intense than the situation warrants. They can’t relax, startle easily, and have difficulty concentrating. Often they have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Physical symptoms that often accompany the anxiety include fatigue, headaches, muscle tension, muscle aches, difficulty swallowing, trembling, twitching, irritability, sweating, nausea, lightheadedness, having to go to the bathroom frequently, feeling out of breath, and hot flashes.

Social Phobia, or Social Anxiety Disorder, is an anxiety disorder characterized by overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in everyday social situations. Social phobia can be limited to only one type of situation — such as a fear of speaking in formal or informal situations, or eating or drinking in front of others — or, in its most severe form, may be so broad that a person experiences symptoms almost anytime they are around other people

People with social phobia have a persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being watched and judged by others and being embarrassed or humiliated by their own actions. Their fear may be so severe that it interferes with work or school, and other ordinary activities. Physical symptoms often accompany the intense anxiety of social phobia and include blushing, profuse sweating, trembling, nausea, and difficulty talking.

According to the NIMH, for adults 3.1% suffer from GAD and 6.8% American adults suffer from Social Anxiety, with 32.2% and 29.9% of those cases being severe respectively.  43.2% of those with GAD receive treatment for the it and 40.1% of those with Social Anxiety receive treatment, with 43.7% and 38.7% respectively receiving treatment which is considered minimal.

Now let’s see how these statistics translate in the adult population of Iowa and Washington, where there will be precinct caucuses:

If we consider the total for both Iowa and Washington, there are 557,795 citizens who are receiving minimal or no treatment for their social anxiety or generalized anxiety disorder.  While some (most) of these individuals are still able to reasonably able to function in society, all of them can be considered to have a medical barrier to their participation in a caucus system, and thus give their voice in the nomination process for who will run for president of the country.

Even those in intense treatment for their anxiety are – as many who are dealing psycho-emotional challenges such eating disorders, addictions, and mood disorders – focused on their recovery, which can be nearly all-consuming.  Moving beyond oneself to participate in a community political event can be, as one might say, just too much.  As Amy Liu puts it:

Many of those whose biochemistry is locked in battle with emotional demons cannot participate at all in constructive social change. Many cannot even see past their own struggles long enough to cast a responsible vote.

Not to pick on the Occupy movement, but its claims for a participatory democracy require individuals to voluntarily join a seemingly chaotic process with in most case all strangers, and at many times with the prospect of police intervention (violence).  Someone in the midst of a prolonged anxiety attack or who experiences intense social phobia cannot be expected to overcome their mental health hurdles and participate.  The same goes with a caucuses with their rooms filled with contentious individuals fighting for the votes of fence sitters. 

In the end, it is those who have little or no internal resistance to (contentious) group processes that are able to make their voices heard in the political process.  Going forward, I hope to explore further the topic of the role such psycho-emotional phenomenon such as anxiety plays in our politics and possible means through which communities can better facilitate full participation by all of their community members.

One interesting notion that the research seems to indicate is that anger is more likely to motivate political action as opposed to anxiety.  This can lead to possible conclusion that those who are more likely to respond with anger will have a greater influence on the exact nature of the political landscape than those who more likely to respond to world with feeling of anxiety.

Another thread from this is that the lack of participation by those afflicted such disorders such as anxiety may explain why the mental health system is one of the most ignored and neglected of the social service safety net in this country.   And this leads to a greater number of individuals (citizens) who receive little or no treatment - a situation which can lead to more individuals experiencing severe cases of the disorders.

That is all for now.