Fearful US counts more than votes

This year has been very stressful for many people in the United States－and that anxiety was set to reach a crescendo on Tuesday as results from the presidential election came in.

First there was the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic upheaval, which began to intensify in March. Since May, there have been nationwide protests over social injustice along with violent outbreaks in many cities over the deaths of black men in confrontations with police. These started with the death of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis.

Protests have persisted in cities such as Portland, Oregon, New York and Philadelphia, and now, in preparation for the election, many cities across the US have boarded up storefronts over concerns about violence related to the election results－an unprecedented move in the country's recent history.

Cynthia New, who walks through midtown Manhattan on her daily commute, told WCBS NewsRadio 880 in New York that the boarding up of stores to prevent vandalism and looting has unnerved her.

"You walk down the street as I do every day and you see this plywood. It's very scary," she said.

Harris Stratyner, a clinical professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said the nation is on edge. "I've never seen in all my years practicing, which is about 40, I've never seen anything like this in my life," he said. "They're self-medicating, not just with alcohol. They are self-medicating with drugs. They are self-medicating by taking an extra Valium."

NBC News aired a national report on Monday evening about "election stress disorder".

According to a recent survey by the American Psychological Association, 68 percent of respondents say the election is a significant source of stress, compared with 52 percent who felt that for the 2016 election.

Election stress disorder isn't a scientific diagnosis, but its effects are palpable, according to Robert Bright, a Mayo Clinic psychiatrist, the news network reported.

"We notice it in our bodies, the tension in our shoulders. Sometimes people get GI(gastrointestinal) upset or headaches," Bright said. "People have trouble sleeping. There's a lot of sleep disturbance going on right now."

Charlie Wurzel, in an opinion article in The New York Times on Monday, wrote: "Waiting on news like election returns (or even just for election day to arrive) combines two unpleasant states: uncertainty and powerlessness. Each are deeply uncomfortable emotions. Put them together and it feels like torture."

Adding to the stress is that battleground state Pennsylvania－which is generating the most attention for its possibly decisive role in this year's election－will allow mail-in ballots to be counted up to three days after the election.

'Dangerous situation'

"They made a very dangerous situation, and I mean dangerous, physically dangerous, and they ... did a very bad thing for this state," President Donald Trump said on Sunday of a state Supreme Court ruling that granted the extension. It was appealed to the US Supreme Court, which, in a deadlocked 4-4 ruling last month, enabled the votes to be counted after election day.

"Please don't cheat because we're all watching. We're all watching you, Governor," Trump said in reference to Pennsylvania's Democratic governor, Tom Wolf.

In the 2016 election, Democrat Hillary Clinton was upset by the Republican Trump.

Now, another Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, is leading Trump in major polls, but there also is uneasiness in Democratic circles.

Another stress factor is uncertainty about the result, last experienced in 2000, when the Supreme Court decided the election for Republican George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore after a delay over the ballot count in Florida.