Brexit Stress Isn’t All In Your Head
Chronic uncertainty since the 2016 referendum, along with the resulting anxiety, is increasingly likely to be taking a physical toll on the British people.
It’s real, and it’s not going away.
Photographer: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
The uncertainty of the ongoing Brexit drama is taking an emotional toll on the British public. Since the original vote in 2016, there has been a 13.7 percent increase in prescriptions for antidepressants relative to other drugs. Political chaos has consequences for public health.
Indeed, the results of a new study suggest that people subjected to long periods of intense uncertainty show levels of immune-system activity similar to that when triggered by viral or bacterial infections. The British public is certainly tired of the Brexit psychodrama, but they — and their political leaders — may in a real sense be sick as well, with a significantly reduced capacity for making wise decisions.