Your vote matters, and so does your mental health.
We live in a time of information overload — 24-hour news cycles, unlimited access to social media and our own personal stresses of daily living. Add in a presidential election year and it is no wonder that a survey from the American Psychiatric Association reported that 43% of U.S. adults are feeling more anxious in 2024 than they did in 2023 (American Psychiatric Association, 2024).
Feeling more emotions around an election season is normal and can help us stay engaged in the political process. However, living with these intense emotions for too long can take a toll on our well-being. No matter which side of the political spectrum we’re on, many of us feel stressed by the state of American politics. A recent survey showed 73% of U.S. adults feel anxious about the upcoming election, and 53% said it’s affecting their mental health (American Psychiatric Association, 2024). So, how can we stay engaged with politics while also caring for our well-being?
How Stress Affects Us
Our brains are built to handle and even benefit from short bursts of stress. In small doses, stress can help us focus, tackle challenges, and grow as people. However, when we experience long-term stress, it can negatively affect our brains and bodies. We might start to notice muscle tension, difficulty with sleep or headaches. Over time, stress can even weaken our immune systems, leading to stomach issues, heart disease, weight gain and increased risk of stroke (APA, 2023).
How to manage stress this election season.
1. Set boundaries around social media.
“Setting boundaries” is a trendy phrase, but how do we limit our social media to help our mental health? Social media is often at our fingertips, so it can be easy to get caught in a doom scroll.
Try This:
- Set specific times in your day to check social media. If you find yourself feeling hopeless or overwhelmed, it may be a sign your brain needs a break. During that time, do activities that lift your spirits – go for a walk, stretch or talk to a friend.
- Change your algorithm. Social media feeds tend to show us similar content to what we’ve seen before. If we are using social media for news, we will likely see more political content in our feeds. Look for positive, funny and hopeful posts to balance things out.
2. Be mindful of the type and amount of news you take in.
We can get news any time, any place and anywhere, but this constant intake can take a toll on us.
Try This:
- Choose reliable news sources and avoid ones that focus mostly on conflict and negativity.
- Read news instead of watching it. Images and videos are designed to activate our stress response, but reading gives us more control to take breaks and process information at our own pace.
- Set specific times of the day to check the news instead of watching it all the time.
3. Keep it in perspective.
It’s easy to find ourselves in information overload and unsure of what we can do to make a difference. This can leave us feeling helpless.
Try This:
- Be kind to ourselves. It is completely normal to feel strong emotions, and it’s okay to take a break from political conversations or content. We love this short self-compassion practice by Dr. Kristen Neff.
- Focus on what we can control. There are a lot of events in life we can’t change, and that can be hard on our minds. By taking action where we can, like planning to vote or volunteering for a cause we believe in, we can feel more empowered and hopeful.
4. Take care of YOU.
When we take care of ourselves, we have more energy to care about what is happening in the world around us. Think about what has helped you manage stress in the past or try a new activity.
Try This:
- Schedule time for self-care. Think of a time when you felt really good. What habits or routines were you following that helped you feel that way? We don’t have to make big changes all at once, we can start with one small step today.
- Practice a skill. Mindfulness, exercise and self-reflection have been shown to improve our mental health.
- Seek support when it feels like too much. Who do we turn to for encouragement? These are the people we can lean on when we are overwhelmed. If stress is ongoing, intense or affecting our daily life, it might be helpful to talk to a professional. We can reach out to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling, texting or chatting 24/7 to speak with a mental health professional.
References
- American Psychiatric Association. (2024, May 1). American adults express increasing anxiousness in annual poll; stress and sleep are key factors impacting mental health. American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved September 21, 2024, from https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/news-releases/annual-poll-adults-express-increasing-anxiousness
- Leno, M. (2024, August 21). The psychological impact of an election year. Psychology Today. Retrieved September 23, 2024, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/mind-matters/202408/the-psychological-impact-of-an-election-year?msockid=280fefb898426d282780fc0599916cb8
- Medaris, A. (2023, November 1). 6 things researchers want you to know about stress. American Psychological Association. Retrieved September 20, 2024, from https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/research-findings
- Neff, K. (2024, September 1). General self-compassion break: Guided practices. Self-Compassion. Retrieved September 24, 2024, from https://self-compassion.org/self-compassion-practices/
