We live in an age where elections are inextricably linked to a sense of impending doom. The deep polarity of American politics, with the heightened “us vs them” mentality, has exacerbated voter anxiety around this upcoming election. In May 2024, the APA reported that 73% of Americans were particularly anxious about this election (American Adults Express Increasing Anxiousness in Annual Poll; Stress and Sleep Are Key Factors Imp, 2024). Since then, there have been election shakeups and assassination attempts, all while the rest of the world has continued to suffer through their own disasters. This flood of sensational news has led to increased depression, (social) anxiety, loss of sleep, impulsivity (i.e. social media rant postings) and damage to relationships with family and friends (Rutledge, 2024).
So how have we coped?
We have doubled down on our social media consumption, doomscrolling, and isolation. In a world where everything feels out of our control, many have indulged in black and white thinking. Many have found comfort and strength in group mentality. As a result, spaces for nuance and healthy political discourse have been significantly diminished. The fear of social rejection, while trying to process an overload of information and misinformation, has prevented our own fact-checking and has sometimes reduced our ability to see people with different views as human. This has fortified our prejudices and further widened the political divide. No wonder we feel anxious!
If what I just wrote mirrored or triggered more anxiety, I understand. We tend to feel anxious when we do not feel in control of a situation. And what I wrote about is way too much for us as individuals to control! With some reframing, that knowledge alone can relieve some election anxiety. For instance, studies have shown that an individual’s experience of anxiety is dependent on their locus of control. Those with an internal locus of control generally believe that they have the power to control the events in their life, whereas those with an external locus of control believe that the power lies in forces outside of themselves (Kohli et al., 2011). So, for those whose locus of control leans more externally, election anxiety will be higher. That anxiety can heighten when we don’t create a space to properly process it. So let’s explore some ways that we can adaptively take back some control and calm our election anxiety.
*It’s important to note that points in this article are not meant to minimize the importance of outcome in this election. The election outcome is very important and will affect people differently based on their social location. Instead, this list is meant to find ways to reframe our thoughts in an effort to find a little more peace where possible.*
1. Check Your News Consumption
We are constantly being bombarded with information. At a certain point, it becomes almost impossible to discern between fact and fiction. Especially when social media platforms are personally curated to you based on who you follow and, of course, the algorithms. When we see a certain opinion, infographic, or headline posted more frequently, we tend to give more credence to it due to something called the availability bias. The availability bias refers to our tendency to believe something the more we are made aware of it. We are more susceptible to this the more emotionally charged it is (Hoffman, 2024). We also tend to become more complacent and less curious as the information is thrown at us. This is hard to avoid with all of our different news sources: social media, podcasts, cable news, word of mouth, tabloids, advertisements, and the list goes on.
So how can we be more discerning with our news sources?
Get curious! Make sure that a news source has a handful of evidence-based references. Avoid sources that use more opinionated or emotionally charged verbiage. Keep an eye out for sources that consider both sides of a topic and look for nuance. In the end, it is pretty hard to find a news source that we can be 100 percent confident in, but the more you discern a source and check your own biases, the more in control you might start to feel.
News consumption is not just what you are consuming but it is how you are consuming. Are you checking your phone and looking at headlines all day? Are you glued to cable news every night? Did you really open up that article or did you just read the headline when passively scrolling? Do you find yourself staying up late, doomscrolling on Reddit or TikTok and scratching your confirmation bias itch? If you can say yes to any of these, then that is likely a major source for your election anxiety. It might be time to start tracking your news consumption habits and noting how you feel after consumption in a journal. For instance, when you doomscroll Reddit, note the time, place, activity, and what emotions come up. Maybe you feel numb, anxious, angry or even happy. Then write down why you think you felt that emotion. Also note any other sensations you might be experiencing, like increased heart rate, body tension, irritability, or intrusive thoughts (Huff, 2022). After a few days you might start to notice some patterns and start to create some boundaries around your media consumption, like: turning off all notifications, adding tech-free periods to the day, actively being more present when around others, or challenging yourself to allow more boredom into your life (i.e. no scrolling on your commute to work) (Huff, 2022). Or…
Make a list! When it comes to election outcomes it is important to challenge yourself to combat sensationalism and re-evaluate what the absolute truths are (cite evidence!), what are the possible outcomes (sometimes this gets mixed up with absolute truths), and what are things that will likely not be affected at all by a certain election result. Try it out for both candidates and make sure you really challenge yourself to get something in each column. This is also a great opportunity to try to understand where supporters of the opposing candidate are coming from in an effort to find connection and humanity in each other. This can help you enhance curiosity, explore nuance, reduce black and white thinking, and, ultimately, calm some election anxiety.
2. What Can You Control?
Being proactive on only the things that you can control can make you feel more in charge of your future. As the sense of having no power over your future is a big reason as to why election anxiety grows, this shift in focus can help reduce some of it.
So, what can you control?
- Check your voter registration and register if you haven’t already
- Remind people in your life via mouth or social media posting to do the same
- Check the content for misinformation
- If you see someone posting misinformation, private message them, share evidenced based information, and kindly ask them to take it down
- When sharing accurate information, make sure to cite your sources
- Donate
- Attend rallies, public speaking events, marches and any event that will promote the issues and candidates that you care about
- Volunteer as a poll worker, help shuttle people to and from polls, and/or canvass
- Vote!
3. Refocus
Shift the focus towards things in your life that are meaningful and are least likely to change if the election outcome is not what you hoped for. Being present and partaking in activities you can control that are not relevant to the election can reduce the intensity around election anxiety. Spend more time with friends and family, get active, volunteer locally, go to a show, or pick up a hobby. This shift in focus can remind us of how much there is in our lives to be grateful for, which we can sometimes lose sight of when we are consumed with anxiety.
4. Mindfulness
This is the one that you will find on most tip lists – and for a good reason! Mindfulness is the state of experiencing the present nonjudgmentally and is believed to reduce stress, whereas focusing too much on the past and future can amplify stress and lead to feelings of depression and anxiety. It promotes responding to stressors reflectively rather than reflexively as a way to recenter and reduce the intensity of anxiety (Hofmann et al., 2010). Mindfulness is just as physical as it is mental. In fact, it has been found that slow and deep breathing can “alleviate bodily symptoms of distress by balancing sympathetic and parasympathetic [nervous system] responses” (Hofmann et al., 2010). These systems work together to balance you out as they perform opposing effects on the body. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activates in response to stress and creates “fight or flight”reactions, which increases the heart rate. The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activates during quiet, resting, low stress periods, and lowers the heart rate (McCorry, 2007). In order to activate the PNS in response to an overactivated SNS, you can partake in mindfulness activities that use slow deep breathing to lower the heart rate, like meditation (i.e. focusing on your breath or using a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Mindfulness skill like One-Mindfully), yoga, being in nature, practicing radical acceptance, or simply cuddling with your pet.
5. Walk Away
That’s it. Just walk away. Stop consuming the news. If a conversation is causing too much stress, it is okay to protect your peace and walk away. Take back this time and space as a way to allow yourself to practice the above tips, like reconnecting with nature with mindfulness or only focusing on what you can control and who/what you are most grateful for.
Resources
If you are finding that it is still too hard to dampen your election anxiety, please consider reaching out to the following resources:
- Text ELECTION to 741741 to reach a live counselor at the Crisis Text Line https://www.crisistextline.org/topics/election-anxiety/#how-to-cope-with-election-anxiety-pre-post-1
- Find a therapist in your area through online directories like Psychology Today or Good Therapy
- Call or text 988 to connect to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
