From anxiety to action: coping with election stress in 2024
Illustration by Marian F. Moratinos
2020 was my first presidential election. As a legal adult, I could finally vote. But I didn’t. After being beaten down by soundbite after soundbite of fear-mongering accusations from both sides, I felt stressed and cynical. Statistics indicate I was not alone. The APA’s 2023 Stress in America report shows that only 34% of respondents were optimistic about our country’s trajectory, and only 31% felt that government representatives had their best interests in mind. This year, I want to retain enough hope in my heart that by the time Election Day rolls around, I have the energy to use my voice and cast my ballot. How can we prevent political burnout in 2024? I went to the experts to find out.
Election stress is a common issue for anyone who cares about the state of the world. Jonathan Alpert, Manhattan psychotherapist and author of Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days, has treated many people for politics-related anxiety. He told me that his patients come from all across the political spectrum. It’s a problem for everyone. Morra Aarons-Mele, an anxiety expert and veteran political consultant, is host of The Anxious Achiever podcast, author of the book The Anxious Achiever, and winner of the 2023 Mental Health America Media Award. She told me that often an unhealthy relationship with politics develops from a deeper place of caring for our world and our community. In fact, a 2023 study found that, among college students, high political stress in 2020 was associated with the highest levels of civic action. “It’s really hard when you care,” said Morra. “If you tend towards anxiety, it’s easy to go to a really dark place.”
So, how do we stay sane without checking out completely?
Protect yourself by limiting news consumption. The first step to a healthy election year mentality is to notice when you are in danger of spiraling. Morra said it’s often linked to news overconsumption. “Ask yourself, ‘Do I have the TV on all day long?’” she said. “And if you feel like you’re consuming hours of political news a day and sharing it, reading it right before bed, ask yourself, ‘Is this serving me?’”
“We have less control over the fate of everything that makes our heart hurt than we would like,” she said. “When you’re stuck in a system that’s really broken, it’s hard to fix things.” This realization of our inability to fix things is important, and Morra thinks it should directly impact what we allow ourselves to see. “The way we see trauma is new. It’s too much for our brains and our emotions. It’s okay not to engage. Don’t feel guilty if you limit your news consumption. Don’t feel guilty if you don’t respond to a text chain. Protect yourself.”
Don’t conflate consuming news and media with political action. “There’s a little bit of gamification when it comes to consuming political news,” Morra said. “We can become reliant on it, which makes us feel like we’re doing something productive. Forwarding an email, liking, reposting can make us feel productive even when it’s not.” By replacing news consumption with action, we can empower ourselves and others to do good. “If you want to make the world a better place, come up with three discrete actions you can take,” said Morra. “When it comes to the election, I can outrage and scream into the vortex every single day—or I can sign up to phone bank, I can sign up to volunteer, I can give what I can.”
When discussing politics with loved ones, focus on deepening your understanding and connection with one another. Our election year problems don’t just take place online. Jonathan Alpert has treated many people for politics-related anxiety and found that people’s biggest struggles come from political differences with friends and family. “In order to keep the peace, try to change the way you look at the situation,” he told me. “Aim to share your ideas, not change your partner’s mind,” he said. “As is the case with a lot of discussions about hot-button issues, in relationships it should be one about sharing your opinion and deepening your understanding and connection, not trying to get your partner to buy into your beliefs.”
Tips to Try
Mindset shifts are important, but they can be hard to apply in the context of our own day-to-day lives. I asked Morra and Jonathan to recommend some concrete actions.
Take a walk. If things heat up in a conversation, Jonathan recommends stopping the talk and shifting gears to something completely different. This could mean stepping outside to run errands, getting something to eat, or walking the dog. It’s a kind of reset button to restore calm.
Straight-up tell your friends you don’t want to talk politics. Because she works in the political sphere, Morra’s friends often bring up politics in conversation. She told me she sometimes establishes gentle boundaries with them, by saying, “I don’t want to talk about this. I love you, but I don’t want to talk about it.”
Read more fiction and history. If your mind needs something to latch onto, Morra advises trying to engage with media that takes you out of the present moment. “One of the things that’s really hard about living in the election cycle, is we tend to think only in the now,” she said. “If you just think about different times, you gain some perspective. The guilt we feel is, as concerned citizens, we need to know everything. In fact, knowing everything may actually not be good for you.” Immersing ourselves in historical or imaginary places can help us to see the bigger picture and avoid tunnel vision.
Finally, general advice won’t go far unless you know your own tendencies. A 2023 study from researchers at NC State University found that even anticipating election stress can make us feel bad. But if we respond to that anticipatory stress with problem analysis, the negative effects cancel out. Understanding exactly why the election year stresses us out is the first step towards facing our fears and protecting our minds. If we begin by identifying our own individual triggers, we will be better equipped to apply advice from psychologists and other experts, so that when Election Day comes on November 5, we can go to the polls calmly and confidently.