Dealing with Election-Related Stress

It’s no secret that waiting for election results can give a person a lot of stress. The final results may not end up in your favor, or the results of a local race will not be what you had hoped. In case these scenarios happen, here are some ways to help you deal with the stress and disappointment.

Coral Seco, a licensed medical health counselor at Family Recovery Specialists spoke to Fox News about this. Seco said, “regardless of where you lie on the political lines, this was an election unlike any we have historically had.”

Seco advises us to acknowledge that and to “give yourself some empathy and room to grieve that the outcome you wanted didn’t happen.”

Barbara Nosal, the chief clinical officer at Newport Institute, also gave advice obtained by Fox News. According to her, we must stay present and focus on what we can control.

“We can control our one vote, but the election results are out of our control,” Nosal said. “It is realistic and natural to feel disappointed and even to grieve if necessary if the results are not what you had hoped.”

More than the election itself, the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues can truly add to our stress.

The Year 2020

In a recent article, Healthline mentioned that this year is different.

“As if 2020 was not already difficult enough with election strain, the stressors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and protests over social justice issues have only added another level of anxiety for many people,” says Varun Choudhary, a psychiatrist and the national behavioral health chief medical officer at Magellan Health.

Healthline advises us to channel our stress into something productive. It also says we should monitor how much news we consume and set boundaries around political conversations among others.

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