Stamping Out Stress on the Campaign Trail

Watching the final leg of the presidential campaign, you might wonder how the candidates manage without infusions of DNA from Road Runner or the Energizer Bunny. With superhuman speed, President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry race across the country in endless loops - stumping in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, back to Ohio. At rally after rally, they define themselves, defend themselves, and suffer ridicule for the slightest misstep. All the while, one of them is also responsible for running the country. How can anyone cope with so much stress?

"They don't see it as stress," says psychologist Oakley Ray, PhD. "They see it as a challenge." Ray, a professor emeritus of psychology, psychiatry, and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University, tells WebMD that stress is a product of the brain, not the environment. That is why some people thrive under circumstances that others find overwhelming.

"The kinds of people who are willing to go on the campaign trail know very much what they're getting into," Ray says. "They are actually searching it out. They want the attention that will be focused on them. They want the opportunity to have an impact on the direction of the campaign and the country."

The Power of Applause

Steven Berglas, PhD, agrees that politicians crave the thrill of the campaign trail. "They are wired differently. They are addicted to the power rush," says Berglas, a clinical psychologist and instructor at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. The reason the presidential candidates seem to have superhuman stamina, he says, is that every campaign stop offers a five-course meal for the ego. "They are on an adrenaline high. They can live on a Twinkie and applause for five months."

Berglas, who is also the author of Reclaiming the Fire: How Successful People Overcome Burnout, says the candidates do feel stress -- but in a good way. He distinguishes between negative stress, called distress, and positive stress, known by psychologists as eustress. While the former is associated with anxiety or exhaustion, the latter can promote growth and motivate people to work toward their goals.

"Politicians can seemingly do Herculean amounts of work because of the eustress associated with challenges," Berglas tells WebMD. "For a campaigner, the opportunity to win over an audience, gain approval, see your numbers increase in the polls -- that is the best feeling in the world."

The Power of a Cause

But what about all of those staffers who travel with the candidates and put in even longer hours, but never see their own names on banners and placards?

"Campaign managers get a lesser high from knowing they are indispensable," Berglas says.

It's the rank-and-file staffers who are most vulnerable to stress. They experience all the hassles -- long hours, sleep deprivation, being away from friends and family -- without the exhilaration of fans cheering them on at every turn. The secret to their endurance is usually ideology. According to Ray, "Believing in the fight makes them immune to the stress."