Sex, hockey, Donald Trump: Canada's latest obsession?

It was when I found myself repeatedly punching the word 'Weiner' into any available search engine that I realized my problem had reached a breaking point.

Certainly, there had been signs before. Waking up in the middle of the night to check a promised WikiLeaks revelation on Hillary Clinton only to find that, like millions of others, I'd been punked by Julian Assange.

Or pacing around my living room, heart racing, unable to sit during the opening minutes of the first presidential debate. Was it anticipation? Fear? Or the fact I practically risked my life to get home in order to watch it live?

Here's my confession: I'm obsessed with the U.S. election. Not just naturally interested — pure Twitter-checking, poll-reading, desperate-for-news obsessed.

And judging by the sheepish looks I shared with co-workers also scrambling to get out the door in order to catch that debate, I'm not alone.

'Genuinely crazy things'

It goes without saying that people around the world are glued to the presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. As they are by all U.S. elections and the battle for a job that — with apologies to Bill Gates and Apple CEO Tim Cook — still makes you the most powerful person in the world.

But the descriptions of the fascination and its effects this time around feel different: obsession, addiction, depression, anxiety, insomnia.

That may be because of the all-pervasive nature of the technology bringing us updates on every new Trump accuser and Hillary email cache. Anyone the least bit plugged-in literally can't escape it.

But for Canadians, could it also be a reminder of just how little control we have over the events — like nuclear war, financial crisis, global terrorism — which fundamentally threaten our existence?

UBC political science professor Max Cameron calls it "catastrophisizing".

"There is, for Canadians perhaps, a bit of a sense that there is so much at stake and that it impacts on us and yet we have very little say over it," he says.

And let's be clear — most Canadians are more concerned about one of the candidates than the other.

"I think the fear is catastrophe," Cameron says. "We're looking at  the possibility of Trump getting elected and doing genuinely crazy things that could have long-lasting repercussions, not just for Americans, but for everyone."

'Like watching a soap opera'

According to Google Trends, Canada is second only to the United States itself when it comes to interest in Clinton and Trump. Since the two candidates won the nomination of their respective parties, searches related to their names have outstripped both Justin Trudeau and Justin Bieber.

In fact, Donald Trump beat both "sex" and "hockey" on Google for a brief time in October. Though he still came in second to searches related to the weather. Read what you want into that.

Cameron, by the way, says he's trying to be as "rational and disciplined" as he can about his own election compulsion. But that didn't stop him from abandoning plans for a night spent working earlier this week in favour of hours of watching strident campaign surrogates yell at each other on CNN.

Last month, the American Psychological Association reported that 52 per cent of American adults find the election "a very or somewhat significant source of stress."

The same study found that adults who are on social media are more likely to report election-related anxiety than the unplugged. The stress is most pronounced among millennials and people over the age of 71.

Coincidentally, I'm splitting my TV time right now between the election and the second season of Narcos on Netflix. It's hard to say which is more dramatic. Or which of the candidates more closely resembles the villainous head of a global narco-terror empire.

Stakes aside, Cameron says the election is hard to beat for the sheer entertainment value of a spectacle fuelled by unexpected plot twists and outlandish characters. Sex-addicted estranged husband of a top aide anyone?

"I rarely do that kind of binge TV watching. But I find that I'm getting pulled in to this. Into the drama of it," he says.

"It's like watching a soap opera and you want to know how it's going to turn out."

'Of course - this affects the whole world'

Which is why Rio Theatre owner Corinne Lea is advertising her Tuesday-night viewing party as "the final episode of the U.S. election." More than 1,200 people have expressed interest in coming to the free event through Facebook. They only have capacity for 420.

Lea describes herself as someone who would normally pay attention to general political news. But that interest has blown into full blown obsession this year. She checks CNN when she wakes up and before she goes to bed. She's engaged on social media.

And as a vocal feminist and a Clinton supporter, she's waging active online war with hordes of trolling Trumpsters.

"I think it's because we're invested. It's not just paying attention to something else that might not affect our lives," she says.

"I've had people tell me that I should shut it because I'm a Canadian. And any of us that are really into it feel like: 'No, of course, this affects the whole world.'"

Regardless of who becomes the next president, the big question for the election-addicted is what happens on Nov. 9? Will Trump call for revolution? Will Hillary head to jail? Should Ana Navarro get her own show?

True obsessives realize that a return to normal is likely a pipe dream. The race for 2020 is already underway. And Narcos has been renewed for Seasons 3 and 4.