Coping with Election Stress: Mental Health Tips for Election Time
Election seasons can be particularly stressful periods, occasionally filled with heated debates, frequent media coverage, and intense personal and overall anxieties. Whether it's a local, state, or national election, the stakes often feel incredibly high, and the outcomes can have sweeping consequences. This stress can affect your mental health, causing anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and other emotional difficulties. In order to help you manage your mental health, this blog will include practical strategies and resources to maintain your well-being and cope with election stress.
Understanding Election-Related Stress
Election-related stress is a common experience that can affect people of all ages, especially those who feel particularly invested in the outcome of the election. It can occur from many different sources, such as:
Media Saturation: Continuous exposure to news and social media updates can lead to information overload. Information overload can include cognitive overload and emotional overload.
Cognitive Overload: When bombarded with too much information, our brains struggle to process it all, leading to cognitive fatigue. This can reduce our ability to concentrate, make decisions, and think clearly.
Emotional Overwhelm: Constant exposure to negative or distressing news can heighten emotional responses, leading to anxiety, sadness, and even despair.
Conflict: Political discussions can cause conflicts with friends, family, and colleagues.
Uncertainty: Uncertainty about the future and the future of the country can increase anxiety and fear.
Feeling Powerless: Believing that your vote doesn’t matter or that the system is flawed can lead to feelings of helplessness.
Understanding these stressors is the first step in managing election stress effectively.
Strategies to Manage Election Stress
1. Limit Media Consumption
While it’s important to stay informed, excessive media consumption can heighten anxiety and increase distress. It can be extremely helpful to set boundaries, choose reliable news sources, and schedule media breaks.
Begin by deciding how much time you will dedicate to reading the news each day, such as 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening, and then try to stick to this schedule. This helps prevent the temptation you might feel to constantly check for updates on Twitter, Instagram, and news sources and reduces the risk of information overload.
It's also important to choose reliable sources for your news, opting for well-established, credible outlets that provide balanced, fact-checked information, thereby avoiding the stress and confusion that come from misinformation.
Additionally, scheduling regular media breaks throughout the day allows you to recharge and decompress, helping to lessen the negative impact of constant exposure to potentially distressing news. These breaks can be used for engaging in activities that promote relaxation and mental clarity, such as taking a walk, reading a book, or practicing grounding. By establishing and maintaining these boundaries, you can stay informed without compromising your mental health.
2. Engage in Self-Care
Prioritizing self-care can help you maintain your mental and physical health: Regular exercise can be important, as physical activity has been shown to reduce stress and improve mood by releasing endorphins, which can increase how you feel. Alongside exercise, maintaining a healthy diet can lead to a profound positive impact on your mental health, providing the necessary nutrients to support brain function and emotional well-being. Of course, it is important to maintain adequate sleep, aiming for 7-9 hours of sleep each night helps your body and mind recover, reduces anxiety, and enhances your ability to think.
Incorporating mindfulness practices into your daily routine, such as progressive muscle relaxation (tensing and relaxing each muscle of your body from your toes up to the top of your head) and deep breathing exercises, can also be incredibly beneficial. Grounding can be useful as well to increase mindfulness where you focus on your surroundings and notice 5 things you see, 4 things you hear, 3 things you feel, 2 things you smell, and 1 thing you taste.
3. Stay Connected
Social support is crucial during stressful times, allowing you to feel more connected to others in a way that can decrease anxiety and stress. If you are aligned with your loved ones politically or share similar viewpoints, talking to friends and family can allow you to share your feelings in a way that that can offer comfort and validation.
Sometimes you might have family members and friends who have different views than you. It is important to set boundaries with people who might cause you to have more anxiety with their differing political views. It can also be useful to limit political discussions in order to maintain your mental peace and prevent unnecessary conflicts and try to ensure that your social interactions remain positive and supportive. Prioritizing the social support that makes you feel happier will allow you to better navigate stressful periods and maintain your emotional well-being.
4. Take Action
Feeling empowered can significantly reduce feelings of helplessness during election seasons. One way to cultivate this sense of empowerment is by getting involved in local campaigns, volunteering, or engaging in community activities. These actions not only provide a direct way to contribute to the causes you care about but also increase your overall sense of agency and connection with others who share your values. Additionally, voting is a fundamental way to exert your influence; ensure you are registered, understand the voting process, and participate in elections to make your voice heard.
Advocacy is another powerful tool; whether through writing letters, making calls to your representatives, or using social media to raise awareness, advocating for the issues you care about can amplify your impact and contribute to meaningful change. By actively participating in these ways, you can transform feelings of helplessness into a proactive stance, reinforcing your sense of control and purpose.
5. Practice Gratitude
It can help to focus on gratitude to decrease stress and increase the positive facets of well-being. One way to do this is to keep a gratitude journal, writing down 3 things you’re grateful for each day. You can set a specific time to write in your journal in order to make it a routine. You can also increase your emotion of gratitude by expressing appreciation to those around you.
Coping with Post-Election Stress
Coping with post-election stress can be challenging, especially if the outcome wasn't what you hoped for. It's important to start by accepting reality; acknowledge the election results and give yourself time to process your feelings. Adapt by focusing on how you can adjust to the new political landscape and find ways to move forward. Concentrate on what you can control by identifying personal actions that align with your values, and continue to be actively involved in your community. Engage in advocacy and efforts that promote change, ensuring your voice remains a part of the ongoing dialogue. By embracing acceptance and adaptation, and focusing on actionable steps, you can navigate post-election stress more effectively.
Conclusion & Seeking Further Support
Election seasons are inherently stressful, but with the right tools and strategies, you can navigate this period while maintaining your mental health and even increasing your overall well-being. If you would like more support on managing election related anxiety, please reach out to me, Dr. Hannah Gilfix. As a licensed psychologist, I can help you learn tips and tricks for managing your stress and anxiety as this election season looms closer.
Please schedule a free consult call here.