The vicious cycle of killer news: American democracy is dying -- and taking Americans with it

[marmar]

The vicious cycle of killer news: American democracy is dying — and taking Americans with it
Research finds that thinking about daily political events evokes negative emotions — but increases engagement

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED JANUARY 25, 2023 5:45AM (EST)


(Salon) American people are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

More than 1 million Americans died from the Covid pandemic. Most of these deaths were preventable and were caused by Donald Trump's willful indifference, cruelty, and incompetence. He was booted from office, but there has been no closure, reckoning or catharsis in response to this massive amount of death and suffering. Although the Biden administration has made great progress in slowing down Covid, hundreds of people continue to die each week in the United States from the disease.

America is plagued with gun violence and mass shootings.

Last Saturday, ten people were massacred by a gunman in Monterey Park, California. Two days later, seven people were killed in a series of shootings in Half Moon Bay, California.

America's democracy is in crisis.

The Republican fascists and their forces continue to spread the Big Lie and are generally undeterred in their campaign to end multiracial democracy. Trump and other high-level Jan. 6 coup plotters in the Republican Party have not been punished for their crimes against democracy and the rule of law. Moreover, insurrectionists in the Republican Party like Speaker Kevin McCarthy are now in control of the House of Representatives. The Republican fascists and other members of the MAGA movement and the white right are continuing to both incite as well as engage in actual violence against Democrats, liberals, progressives, the LGBTQ community, Black and brown people, Muslims, Jews and other designated "un-American" enemies.

....(snip)....

New research by Brett Ford, Matthew Feinberg, Bethany Lassetter, Arasteh Gatchpazian and Sabrina Thai, which appears in the prestigious Journal of Personality and Social Psychology provides empirical support for those feelings, intuitions, and lived experiences. A press release by the America Psychological Association (APA) describes this research and findings as detailed in the article "The Political is Personal: The Costs of Daily Politics" in the following way:

Previous research and polling data have found that politics can be a major stressor in people's lives, according to the researchers. However, most of that research has focused on major political events such as presidential elections. Ford and her colleagues wanted to explore the emotional and mental health effects of everyday political news and how people use different strategies to manage those negative emotions.

"Politics isn't just something that affects people every four years during election season -- it seems to seep into daily life. But we just don't know much about the day-to-day impact politics might have," Ford said.

.............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/01/25/the-viscous-cycle-of-killer-news-american-democracy-is-dying--and-taking-americans-with-it/

[bronxiteforever]

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Wow. Perceptive observations.

“Americans are lonely and American society is atomized.

As documented by mental health professionals and other experts, the American people are experiencing a dangerous lack of sleep, high levels of anxiety, engaging in acts of self-harm, using drugs and alcohol to self-medicate, abusing prescription drugs, and experiencing a general sense of malaise and fear that the country (and their personal lives) is going in the wrong direction. Amplified by the internet and other digital technologies, the power of cults/cultism, right-wing religious extremism, conspiracy theories, and other anti-social and anti-human behavior and beliefs is growing in America, most evidently amongst those on the right. American society is experiencing high levels of loneliness and social atomization. The problem is so severe that many American men report not having one close friend.”