The current election may well be the most charged and emotionally fraught experience of its kind we have ever been through in this country. After months of social distancing, quarantining, civil unrest, and polarizing media narratives, people are burnt out and worried. Many people have been living in a state of destabilizing uncertainty since March, without access to the usual ways they would typically support themselves. Common methods of managing anxiety, like going to gym, traveling, or hanging out in close proximity with others is no longer available in the same ways, in the midst of Covid 19. An election with unprecedented voting challenges amplifies stress.
It’s important to take time away from the provocative headlines and the endless news cycle on your devices and do things that allow your body to feel grounded. Going on walks, spending time out in nature or with pets, meditating and listening to music can help you focus on the present moment rather than negative or fearful thoughts about the future.
Find people you can talk to about your hopes and fears for the outcome of this election. Minimizing whatever is happening internally for you–whether it’s a sense of vulnerability, anger, hopelessness, desperation, fear, or grief–or trying to rationalize your inner experience away, can disconnect you from yourself and your true experience of what’s going on.
For your own mental health, reach out to a trusted friend, colleague, relative or even therapist who can validate your feelings, anxieties, and hopes, and listen to all of what’s going on for you without judgment. Sometimes, loneliness is the hardest feeling of all–and the simplest one to remedy, if we can find a person who knows how to simply listen to us and validate us in the midst of a vulnerable experience.
Focusing on what you can control is essential. This might mean engaging in some form of community service or even activism. Controlling what you can during an uncertain time is a way of keeping yourself grounded in the present moment.
Photos courtesy of Pixabay.
