Out On The Couch

Managing Political Stress and Mental Health

Posted: 10-8-24 | The Affirmative Couch

Uncertainty and economic news headlines with US Capitol dome representing political stress.

In a 2019 study, nearly 40 percent of Americans reported that politics had a profound negative impact on their mental health. This number seems to have only increased leading up to the 2020 presidential election, among all political affiliations. What’s more, a 2023 study published by the American Psychological Association suggests that political stress isn’t just limited to political views that the viewer disagrees with.

There is no doubt that current legislative moves against LGBTQ populations provide a serious stressor for members of the LGBTQ community that go beyond rhetoric, and other marginalized groups are similarly impacted by recent legislation and political discourse. 

These very real stressors can have a particular impact on mental health in the fall, when election season and the holiday season intersect. During the holidays, many LGBTQ individuals are either planning visits to family or choosing to avoid family; either of these choices can negatively impact mental health. The combination of political stressors and family stressors together can be difficult to manage, while increased travel may make therapy appointments more difficult to schedule.

It’s far easier to say “take care of yourself” than it is to actually manage mental health when faced by family and political stress. However, there are steps that therapists can take to care for themselves and to help their clients engage in self-care while dealing with the stresses that come during election-and-holiday season.

Self-Care Before Self-Comfort

“Self-care” is often associated with things like comfort foods, bubble baths, and watching feel-good TV. While related to self-care, those activities are more focused on short-term comfort and can become avoidance tools. In contrast, sustainable self-care focuses on how to give your body what it needs to be able to get through major stressors in the short term and manage them in the long term. So while comfort foods are great, self care might include making sure you are eating enough vegetables. Rather than focusing on bubble baths, making sure that you are showering, brushing your teeth, and other aspects of health and hygiene. 

Self-Care Looks Different For Everyone

For many people, regular exercise is an important part of self-care. For some people, who throw themselves frantically into everything they do (including at the gym), taking time away from exercise and activity may be key. Healthy sleep is important to everyone, but methods of managing sleep and sleep hygiene will change from one person to another. 

It can be useful to talk to clients about what self-care means to them and what it looks like before they are in crisis, to help them build a toolbox of activities or skills to seek out and specific strategies for managing political stress. 

Taking Breaks From Work

Taking time off work isn’t possible for everyone, but the workplace can exacerbate mental health struggles during times of stress. If taking time off is possible, it may be something to consider. If something specific at work is having a particular impact on mental health (for example, a colleague who is constantly talking about politics), working out tools to manage that relationship can also be helpful.

Taking Breaks from Social Media

Social media is a great way to connect with people who are far away, and for many, it has immense social value. However, social media apps are designed to keep you engaged, which means in many cases they will push you toward content that you react to. Even if you love being able to maintain relationships with college friends or far-off family members, consider how you are actually engaging with social media. Removing apps from your phone and only accessing them from your computer is one way to reduce the amount of time you spend “doomscrolling”. Other people may set timers or find other ways to engage with social media in a way that doesn’t have negative effects.

Set Boundaries With Family at Holidays

Simply avoiding things that make you uncomfortable isn’t a good long-term solution for family, and in many cases, those uncomfortable discussions are an important tool for helping to reduce radicalization. At the same time, finding ways to manage interactions so that the dinner table doesn’t become a blow-out can help reduce anxiety both during and leading up to holidays. Create boundaries and communicate them with family members, whether that means refusing to discuss certain topics or getting up and leaving the room. 

Find Healthy Ways To Engage

So much political discourse is combative that it is easy to focus on the negative stressors, but sometimes finding other ways to engage can be the most effective tool against political stress. Volunteering for a local advocacy group, working a polling station on election day, or even planning a pre-holiday game-planning session with your siblings to determine how to diffuse arguments, all can help you to be engaged in your community while managing stress and anxiety.

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Reconceptualizing self-care for therapists presented by Teresa M. Theophano, LCSW 1.5 CE Course” under an image of a rainbow heart with two bandages on it representing how over emphasis on individual self-care negatively impacts psychotherapists

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