The health implications of voting can include “increases to psychological well-being,” according to a Trinity College professor.
Voting has recently been recognised as a social determinant of good health by the American Medical Association.
It comes as Ireland embraces for three elections this Friday: local government elections, European Parliament elections, and the Limerick mayoral election.
On Moncrieff, Dr Muiris Houston said there is also “growing concern” that not valuing voting “can lead to bad health outcomes”.
“On the positive side, young people who vote are more likely to have better health over their lifetime,” he said.
“A study found that young voters have a higher level of education, abstain from heavy drinking and smoking and have fewer symptoms of depression.
“Similar figures came out for those over 50, with less likelihood to have high blood pressure and it greatly increases psychological well-being - there is broad evidence that it helps.”
Health implications of voting
On the other hand, Dr Houston said a study in Taiwan found there were many negative health implications from voting.
“This was a big study of over 900,000 people over four elections in Taiwan,” he said.
“It shows there was a 30% increase in anxiety attacks treated in hospital, they said that was due to the stress of choosing who to vote for.
“They also found that the demand for healthcare services rose by 19% among first-time voters during a major election campaign.
“They have the evidence there is an increase in issues but I’m not so sure about their explanation - it’s speculative.”
Ballot boxes and votes being counted in the RDS for the referendum on family and care. Image: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ieDr Houston said you can see “things changing here” in Ireland too around elections.
“The images from Castlebar and Westport over the weekend, where there was a certain amount of heightened interaction between voters and the Taoiseach and Gardai around him,” he said.
“Perhaps things are changing and maybe it’s something we do need to look out for a bit more.”
Some 949 council seats are up for grabs this Friday across 31 local authorities and 14 MEP seats are available at the European Parliament in Brussels.
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Main image: A person casting a vote. Image: roibu / Alamy Stock Photo
