In recent years, it seems like each presidential election leaves around half the country feeling anxious about the next four years. If you’re in that half following the recent election, know that there are a lot of things you can do to manage anxiety in a healthy way.
Election Day has come and gone. However, given the polarization that accompanied this election, it’s not unlikely that you may be experiencing a variety of emotions and thoughts.
Politics, especially during the election cycle, generates a lot of worry and concern. Read Dr. Kramer's blog for ways to balance mental health and politics.
Election season can be a time of heightened anxiety and uncertainty. The key to managing election-related anxiety lies in embracing a balanced approach, staying present, and challenging catastrophic thoughts about the future.
Is riding the pollercoaster—gritting our teeth and white-knuckling it when the news is bad, lifting our arms and screaming when it’s good—an optimal way to prepare for the election?
It is no surprise that many people feel anxious – we live at a time when ‘breaking news’ occurs multiple times a day. These 3 questions can serve as a useful guide as we try to manage the high anxiety and general roller coaster of emotions that affect us during momentous election periods.
What we don’t often think about is how stress and anxiety can significantly increase during an election year and affect everyone’s mental health. Learn more about how to manage this stress and anxiety.
Media organizations on both sides of the political spectrum recognize that negative news keeps the audience engaged. Whichever news channel you watch, when was the last time you turned away happy, energized and peaceful? More often you end up feeling the whole world is going down in flames.
Disastrous news gets delivered in a highly emotional way – often on purpose – and while having strong feelings for the victims of war, floods, earthquakes, mass shootings or horrific accidents is justified, we also have to be logical and in tune with our own emotional processes when interpreting the news.
Limit the depth of exposure to details. People can consume news in limited ways. In other words, learn what’s happening, then stop there. Avoid the urge for disaster voyeurism. If you have heard the story, you might not need to search for the images or the videos; if you have seen them, there is no need to revisit them over and over.
