10 Ways to Survive Election Season, From A Seattle Anxiety Therapist
Tomorrow, November 5th, 2024 is election day. Election day signifies an end to campaigns, and the beginning of a new chapter. It is a day filled with unknown, copious amounts of information and speculation. Such things are aspects ripe for a recipe of stress and anxiety.
Image from Pexels by Cotton Bro 11/4/24
Why Do Politics Make Me Anxious?
Politics might increase anxiety for a variety of reasons, some are addressed here:
· The Unknown
No one knows what the future holds, even pollsters have error variations built into their formulas. Facing the unknown is inherently stressful because it means you can’t fully prepare for what may come.
· Past Trauma/Experiences
You may have experienced challenging or traumatic incidences in the past related to politics. This could be with people close to you or total strangers.
· Digital Overload
As a society, we have the greatest access to information at any given moment than ever before. While at times this can be helpful, it can also be overwhelming and hard to ‘turn off.’
· Values
When you are passionate about an issue or candidate, it reflects your values. We care deeply about things that are important to us, we don’t care much about things that hold little value. If you’re feeling stressed or anxious, it’s probably because this issue/candidate/voting item means a lot to you.
· Feeling Helpless
When facing the unknown, if such feelings are not addressed, feelings can quickly escalate towards helplessness. What is important is knowing what your values are and acting in relationship to those values in ways that are accessible and tangible.
· Relationship Avoidance
If you’re anxious about the election, you might avoid people who you think you’ll clash or disagree with. This could potentially keep you from important relationships in your life and increase general anxiety.
How To Survive Election Season
1. Make a plan for election night.
Image from Pexels by Element5 11/4/24
If you know you’re going to be sitting there refreshing the news on your phone or being glued to the tv, plan an activity that will provide healthy distraction.
2. Work on accepting what’s out of your control.
What is just as important as knowing what you can influence is knowing what you can’t. Sometimes making a simple ‘T’ chart with one side being what you can influence and the other what you can’t, specifically in relationship to the election can be helpful.
3. Create containment after the election related to political content.
The results of the election might be contested, scrutinized, etc. Thus make a plan for how much political media you plan to consume on a daily basis.
4. Limit your media consumption.
Limit doom scrolling. Plan for how you’re going to engage with the news, your devices, and social media.
5. Don’t argue with random people on the internet or try to change peoples’ opinions.
Ultimately this isn’t going to help you or them. If someone wants to agree to engage in conversation about a politics, cool, that’s great, but don’t force it on anyone. It will make both of your lives easier.
6. Identify a political decompression buddy.
Identify one or two people who you can receive support from who you know won’t judge you. Express what you’re feeling and offer them support in return. You can also use these people to hold each other accountable for taking specific action related to the things you can influence.
7. Take action.
Volunteer, show support, donate money. VOTE. People worked hard and sacrificed a lot so you and I could have the right to vote.
8. Take perspective.
Election season can make people feel that it’s the only thing happening and might be infiltrating most of your thoughts. Take time to change or broaden your perspective by shifting your focus of person, place, or time. There is so much more to life than this election. Go for a hike, ask a loved one about a fond memory, learn about a different time in history.
9. Feel your feelings.
Whatever feelings come up for you during this season, be mindful of staying present and not self-medicating with substances, pushing away natural emotional response, or attempting to avoid reality. Often, such efforts end up making difficult emotions worse and more intolerable later.
Image from Unsplash by Jakob Owens 11/4/24
10. Invest in relationships.
Be mindful of what relationship capital you want to spend engaging with grandpa at the Thanksgiving table. Be aware of context and when it may or may not be appropriate to discuss the election.
Reach Out to a Seattle Anxiety Therapist
You will survive this election season, whether you’re happy, sad, mad, or frustrated by the end of it. Afterwards you still have to live your life, so be mindful of how your mental habits, behavior, and relationship practices impact your wellbeing. Facing the unknown can be scary and it’s okay and natural to feel some anxiety around it. If anxiety is screaming in your ear and you struggle to quiet it down, schedule a free consultation today and we can discuss how I can help. You don’t have to live as a hostage to anxiety. Schedule a free consultation below.
About the Author: Seattle Therapist Chelsea Kramer LMFT
Chelsea Kramer is a Seattle Therapist who works with individual and families facing grief, anxiety and trauma, with special focus on medical challenges, reproductive health, and life transitions.
Learn more about Chelsea’s specialties: grief, anxiety, infertility, pregnancy loss, chronic illness, menopause, medical trauma
Learn more about Chelsea
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