So how will you be feeling on Friday morning?
Will you wake up thinking you've won the equivalent of the World Cup, the Grand National and the Booker Prize all at once? Or will you be descending into a deep pit of despair as all your hopes and dreams are dashed to pieces on the referendum rocks?
The psychological impact of the referendum has not, as yet, been a major talking point in this debate but at some point on Friday morning many people are going to realise that all the energy and hope they've invested in one side or other has been for nought. And some people will find that hard to deal with.
The process, health psychologist Dr Cynthia McVey explains, is slightly analogous to grief. "First of all there will be disbelief. There will be people waking up and saying 'what?'. Once you accept what's happened then you can become really angry and then maybe you will get a bit of depression."
As for which side in the debate would feel that loss more deeply, McVey wonders if it may be the No side if the vote goes against them. And not just because they've had the country taken away from them. "I do think if the No side loses No voters might feel the No campaign didn't represent them very well in comparison to the Yes campaign, which seems to have been well planned and enthusiastic."
A defeat for Yes would at least have the consolation that the campaign was a good one. "They might say 'well, we've done the best we can'."
That said, some Yes voters may feel aggrieved at No voters if they fall short. "They might think the Nos don't care as much whereas the Nos care deeply."
The question is if you are on the losing side how do you cope with it? McVey suggests there are two possible approaches. "There's a problem-focused method and an emotion-focused way. With a problem-focused response what you do is try and see if you can solve the problem using practical measures. That might mean getting involved with the political process."
Alternatively, the emotion-focused approach is all about making yourself feel better. That could mean going to the gym or having a drink. Whatever happens with the vote there's one thing McVey can guarantee: "There will be some sore heads and hangovers."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article