Voter Guide for Mid-terms 2022

In September, The Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of medical experts appointed by the US Department of Health and Human Services, recommended that doctors screen all adults under 65 for anxiety - a reflection of the toll the past few years has taken on American’s mental health.

It’s easy to feel powerless in the face of massive social issues - for many, the COVID-19 global pandemic has been another in a list of worries that seem overwhelming: climate change, financial insecurity, and threats to our human rights and self-determination to name just a few. 

At Energy Matters, we see the health consequences of these worries every day - anxiety and depression, physical symptoms caused by stress, and medical issues that go untreated because of overwhelm, overwork, or underinsurance. We’re faced with the flesh and blood consequences of policy decisions that make life more dangerous and unhealthy for everyone, especially people of color, poor and working class people, women, disabled and chronically ill people and LGBTQI people.

So that’s the bad news. What if I told you there was one simple thing you could do that would help your health immediately, and impact the health of your entire community - and country? It’s not something we carry in our pharmacy. It’s voting!

Taking action - even if we aren’t sure of the outcome - has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety and result in measurable health improvements. In a liberal democracy like the United States, voting is an action available to most people, and one that has been key to many of the most important social changes in our history, including civil rights legislation, Medicare and social security, pollution controls, same-sex marriage and abortion rights. The US elections on November 8, 2022 are enormously consequential for both local and national issues.

Here are a few resources to help you vote and know more about the issues, especially propositions for those of us in California.  Please vote - your acupuncturists recommend it!

• Oaklandside.org General Election Coverage: Profiles on local candidates and breakdowns of ballot initiatives from this local nonprofit news source.
• Vote411.org : find voting and election information from the League of Women Voters
• Bay Rising Action Voter Guide: Voter guide from a local progressive activist organization
• KQED Voter Guide: Non-partisan voter guide from our local public radio station KQED