BENGALURU: As the election fever grips Karnataka, contestants are going through frequent check-ups by their family doctors for sugar levels, blood pressure, ECGs and also anxiety related issues.

“Elections are a testing time for all politicians and the recent incidents of JD(S) state president and Hunsur MLA AH Vishwanath suffered a minor cardiac arrest in Hyderabad and the death of Karnataka Municipal Administration Minister CS Shivalli has alarmed most of the politicians,” said a physician on condition of anonymity.

Most of the politicians are also complaining of indigestion and stomach related issues. “I have been closely monitoring diet of some of the politicians and have been telling them to drink lots of water and also reduce intake of non-vegetarian food,” said a dietitian who is working closely with some politicians.

Insomnia during these times, is another worrying factor for doctors. A source close to D K Shivakumar said, “When it’s election time, he just doesn’t sleep. His mind is always occupied with some or the other thought. He becomes a 24/7 employee for the party,” a family doctor said.

While former prime minister HD Devegowda and his sons HD Kumaraswamy and Revanna are being regularly checked for blood pressure (BP) and heart-related issues, former Chief Minister Yeddyurappa’s sugar levels and BP is constantly being monitored too, said sources.

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Any outcome-based activity like election creates anticipatory anxiety, says Dr Manoj Sharma from department of  Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS. “They get influenced by one’s self efficacy to do well or not being able to do well,” he explained.

Meanwhile, physician Dr Bhagat Ram said, “The stress that politicians go through is worse than students who are writing exams. For students, it’s only about marks, but the outcome here it is multi-factorial. There are known, unknown, direct and indirect reasons, which increases anxiety.” He added, when we say multi-factorial, there are personal issues, media, money which is invested, business involvements, etc. Most of them is self-induced anxiety and stress.

As a solution to this, doctors suggest that even before the election fever begins, a workshop should be conducted for all politicians from eligible and trained doctors. Techniques to keep calm and deal with anxiety, should be taught to them, said a senior doctor.