Depression, an Overlooked Voting Barrier

The most common symptoms of depression include low self-esteem, problems concentrating, sleep pattern changes and thoughts of suicide. Not only does the disorder of depression affect the mental health of an individual but it also plays a bigger role in the political sphere than what most people believe. Within the United States the most susceptible to depression are underrepresented groups in relation to an individual's race, gender, income level, religion or sexual orientation. This is because that minorities of said groups don’t have as much access to resources to help treat their disorders because of political barriers that have been implemented by exclusive policies. Since depression plagues the most vulnerable groups in society this in turn affects voter turnout and furthers delays the progress for underrepresented groups. There are a few reasons in which a mental illness such as depression affects voter turnout and I would like to shed light on two ways that it manifests. One way that it manifests within someone with depression is the lack of physical desire to fulfill a task.

Not all states require in-person voting, however for the states that do, this puts up a physical barrier up for individuals who battle with depression. This is just one more barrier that will lower the probability of an individual with depression to vote. The second way it manifests is a much more known phenomena. This is that individuals with depression feel hopeless or empty about the situation. These feelings are often accompanied by thoughts such as “what difference can I make?” or “I never feel represented”. These thoughts are common among a vast majority of voters but are heightened within people with depression. I believe the biggest takeaway is to not further alienate citizens who don’t turn out to vote. A lot of them are inhibited from turning out to vote and anger towards them is only going to push people further away. Simply deploying tactics of encouragement as well as recognizing that depression makes it harder for people to vote is a turn in the right direction.

Source:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4764256/