How to Deal with Election Anxiety
It does not matter what candidate you support or what party you are in, elections can stress you out. The American Psychological Association published research that showed almost 70% of people said elections were a major source of stress in their lives.
Let me see if I can help you keep your anxiety down and blood pressure nice and calm as election day approaches.
First, if you’re feeling anxious about the election, it actually reveals some positive traits inside you.
It shows you care. You care about you and your family and friends. You care about your community around you. You care about your city, your state, and the nation at large. You want what’s best, and you’re passionate about it. I respect you for caring and having passion. It might be emotionally easier to just bury your head in the sand and ignore the needs and issues going on around you. But you’re choosing to put your heart into it.
It shows you want to contribute to something bigger than yourself. There’s a natural inclination to turn inward and focus on ourselves and short-term happiness and instant gratification pleasures. But those don’t satisfy us, they just leave us continually wanting more. Research shows that giving yourself away toward a larger cause is one of the ways to find true satisfaction and fulfillment, and the election represents your cause - the hope and vision you have for the place you live.
So, what can you do about election anxiety? Well, now that you understand yourself and your positive traits better, it will be easier to put these steps into action. Here are 3 practical steps to start and then the last step goes deep and it’ll make the biggest difference for you.
Focus on what you can control. Election anxiety is tough because it shows us how little control we really have. Focus on what you can control. Make a plan for how you’ll vote, volunteer, and donate. And every day, take a 10-minute walk where you look up at the sky and notice the beauty. Really be in awe of it. It will help put things in perspective. Build some silence into your life. Start with 1 minute of silence today. Then a minute 30 tomorrow. Silence puts your brain into self-healing mode and helps reduce anxiety.
Talk to someone in person about the emotions you notice. Saying them out loud will release some of the stress chemicals and it will remind you that you are not the only one experiencing this. Spend more time with family and friends. Think about it - at the end of your life, you are not going to wish you spent more time worrying about elections. You will be thinking about the people you love and whether you spent enough quality time with them. Go have fun with them - laugh, play some games, whatever works for you. Just enjoy each other.
Gradually reduce how much media you take in - don’t go cold turkey. Take a break from national news and watch local news instead. Scrolling on your phone for election content for a few minutes can make you feel informed, but after that you feel a lot more anxious than informed. And for your own sanity, stay out of arguments on social media. Because let’s be real, is it really worth your time, energy, and aggravation?
The anxiety is sending you a message. It is trying to motivate you - to show you what you value and care about deeply and to give you energy toward that. Research tells us that pursuing meaning and purpose reduces things like anxiety and leads to happiness. Do some self reflection about what this anxiety might mean about your purpose. You probably do not have the passion about this issue by accident. Maybe it is a clue about the ways you can make a difference and impact people’s lives in the long term, long after the election is over.
If you would like more information about how to deal with anxiety, try my anxiety course, Anxiety Assassin. I will take you through research-based tools to reduce anxiety and increase your freedom and peace.
IN THE NEWS: Check out where Trey was featured discussing more of this on KTAL (Shreveport, Louisiana) If you feel stress, anxiety during election season you are not alone.