Survey Finds Presidential Election Is Stressing Out Americans

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It's official: the presidential election is stressing people out.

Fifty-two percent of American adults, regardless of party affiliation, find the election to be a major source of stress, according to a recent survey by the American Psychological Association..

"It's men, it's women, it's people registered as Democrats, registered as Republicans. All are equally likely to say that the election is a very or somewhat significant source of stress," Dr. Lynn Bufka, APA's associate executive director for practice research and policy, told 1010 WINS.

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It's even worse for social media users. The survey found people who use social media are more likely to be stressed out about the election than those who don't.

But Marist Poll Director Lee Miringoff doesn't think it'll stop anyone from voting.

"The quality of the campaign people recognize has been very low and that's a turn off to their sense of what they would like in the campaign, I do think however they're still going to vote," Miringoff told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond. "A lot of voters are going to be motivated to vote because of their concerns and fears about the other person winning."

Bufka said if you're feeling stressed out, limit your media consumption, avoid getting into discussions about the election, and remember whatever happens after Nov. 8, life will go on.

"The perception is that it's pretty negative, that there's a lot of drama going on with it, we've got 24-hour news, it shows up in your social media feed, it almost feels hard to escape," she said. "There's also the potential for conflict with people who maybe don't share your point of view, yet you're interacting with them in all kinds of ways."

The survey was conducted in August.