Coping with Post-Election Fears
A lot of us are feeling the weight from the post presidential election results.
From anxiety to fear or even grief around policies which directly impact you and/or your family/friends, it’s a challenging time. I know you have probably heard it one million times, but taking care of yourself, the best you can right now is crucial.
The first step of taking care of ourselves is to check in. Checking in on yourself means to make space to reflect upon your thoughts, feelings and physical sensations. When we are emotionally stressed, we can oftentimes have physical manifestations of tightness/pain/clenching, etc., as well as lack of sleep, nausea, irritability or even difficulty with work/school.
Some tools you can use to help you manage the stress:
1. Regulation exercises, to help lower your stress levels. These can include deep breathing (slow deep breaths, exhaling longer than the inhale), as well as meditation (focusing your mind on your breathing, sensations and feelings) and paired muscle relaxation (tensing each category of muscles in our body, then releasing with a breath).
2. Social media detox/doomscrolling- unplug from social media to give yourself a break from the overwhelming news updates. If you want to stay on media sites, set boundaries for yourself, such as limiting time to a half hour at a time, being mindful of certain sites and how they create emotions for you. Try to avoid social media right before bed, as this can create an upheaval of cyclical thoughts and emotions, creating a barrier to good sleep. It is tempting to take in ALL the information right now - but if you can’t do anything with what you are taking in because you are so overwhelmed, it probably isn’t worth taking in.
3. Express your emotions with friends or creative outlets. Journaling, art therapy, movement and pet therapy are all ideas which can help reduce cortisol levels and help promote well-being. We can also utilize art/journaling to get our raw emotions out in a non-judgmental manner.
4. Educate yourself on issues which you can/cannot control and if you feel like you need to do more, look at volunteering opportunities in the community for awareness and to help others in need.
5. Connect with others who are supportive. Connect with friends/family/individuals in the community who align with your values, who provide a sense of feeling uplifted versus judged. If you feel like you don’t have anyone you can connect with, feel free to find the links below!
6. Create boundaries for those around you to promote emotional well-being. If there are upcoming events/holidays, have discussions beforehand around having no political discussions, and maintain this boundary. If others cannot respect this boundary, then feel free to abstain from these events/people.
7. Allow yourself to grieve and hold space for your feelings. This election has many connections to human rights which may affect yours. Take time to feel your emotions, where they show up for you, in a compassionate manner, without judgement. Tell yourself that this is a time of suffering, and suffering is normal, and that it will be okay. Know that your emotions are valid, and it is natural to have these right now.
8. Combat despair with small glimmers of hope. What are some ways you can keep your hope alive? Can you stay kind to yourself/loved ones? Can you be mindful of events in each day which brings some feelings of happiness/joy/uplift? Think small, we can find these even in the littlest things. These are not to eliminate your very real fears but to also allow space for our body to breath. Without any kind of centering, we get so lost in the pain we can’t do anything with it.
9. Seek the right type of help, if needed. Reach out to a therapist who you feel aligned with. You can always make an intake call with us to see if you feel like one of the therapists here is a right fit for you and your needs!
Resources:
Trevor Project for LGBTQ Individuals: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
Diverse Mental health and Self-Care Resources: https://dosomething.org/article/mental-health-resources
Resource to engage in community change and support/peer
support: https://safespace.org/
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Dial 988 or visit www.988lifelineorg to chat with someone online