Easing Election Stress & Anxiety

At the time of writing, the US is about to have a presidential election. Most of our readers are Americans, and in any case, what the US does tends to affect most of the world, so certainly many readers in other countries will be experiencing stress and anxiety about it too.

We’re a health science publication, not a political outlet, so we’ll refrain from commenting on any candidates or campaign policies, and we’d also like to be clear we are not urging you to any particular action politically—our focus today is simply about mental health.

First, CBT what can be CBT’d

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is far from a panacea, but it’s often a very good starting point. And when it seems the stakes are high, it’s easy to fall into such cognitive distortions as “crystal ball” and “catastrophization”, that is to say, predicting the future and feeling the impact of that (probably undesired version of the) future, and also feeling like it will be the end of the world.

Recognizing these processes and how they work, is the first step to managing our feelings about them.

Learn more: The Art of Being Unflappable (Tricks For Daily Life)

Next, DBT what can be DBT’d

A lot of CBT hinges on the assumption that our assumptions are incorrect. For example, that our friend does not secretly despise us, that our spouse is not about to leave us, that the symptoms we are experiencing are not cancer, and in this case, that the election outcome will not go badly, and if it does, the consequences will be less severe than imagined.

But… What if our concerns are, in fact, fully justified? Here’s where Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) comes in, and with it, what therapists call “radical acceptance”.

In other words, we accept up front the idea that maybe it’s going to be terrible and that will truly suck, and then either:

• there’s nothing we can reasonably do about it now (so worrying just means you’ll suffer twice), or
• there is something we can reasonably do about it now (so we can go do that thing)

After doing the thing (if appropriate), defer processing the outcome of the election until after the election. There is no point in wasting energy to worry before then. In a broadly two-party system where things are usually close between those two largest parties, there’s something close to a 50% chance of an outcome that’s, at least, not the worst you feared.

Learn more: CBT, DBT, & Radical Acceptance

Lastly, empower yourself with Behavioral Activation (BA)

Whatever the outcome of any given election, the world will keep turning, and the individual battles about any given law or policy or such will continue to go on. That’s not to say an election won’t change things—it will—but there will always still be stuff to do on a grassroots level to make the world a better place, no matter what politician has been elected.

Being involved in doing things on a community level will not only help banish any feelings of despair (and if you got the election outcome you wanted, it’ll help you feel involved), but also, it can give you a sense of control, and can even form a part of the “ikigai” that is often talked about as one of the pillars of healthy longevity.

Learn more: What’s Your Ikigai?

And if you like videos, then enjoy this one (narrated by the ever soothing-voiced Alain de Botton):

Watch now: How To Escape From A Despairing Mood (4:46) ← it also has a text version if you prefer that

Take care!