That presidential debate last Tuesday was fire (waiting for round 2), I was so proud of Kamala! As we countdown to Election Day, we may feel anxious, scared, and on edge at the fate of America. I wanted to offer you some simple tips to deal with election anxiety. What a Scary and Exciting Time to be alive!
1) To have hope, I think that was one beautiful thing my therapist told me after Trump almost got assassinated, she said to have hope and faith. She said it with such conviction that this week Biden might step down and Kamala will step up and do well in debate. I thought she was crazy, there's no friggin way America will let Kamala run, she is half Black and half Asian, and if Hillary lost to Trump, a white woman, will a blasian stand a chance? Two days later, surprise surprise, Biden stepped down, and the whole world went crazy, and people were like no way Kamala is gonna be voted in, and then one week later, she raised so much money. Wow! So yes, have hope and also vote!
2) Limit News Intake to 1-2 hours maximum, it's so easy to get sucked into it, you want to know, research, and find out everything you can when you are anxious and America depends on it but the rabbit hole is very deep and hard to get out of. You can spiral into anxiety and your algorithms can feed you more depressing news.
3) Go for a walk: take a long walk, there's so much evidence that walks are good for our mental health, and physical health and it's free.
4) Take a 4-7-8 breath, this is very helpful for getting dopamine and endorphins, influx of oxygen through your body, slows down the blood and heart rate relaxes your brain, and even helps with panic attacks! and it's FREE. You take a slow breath of four seconds through your nose then hold it for 7 seconds and breathe out through your mouth like a straw very quickly for 8 seconds. Do this for a few times, for a minute, or once every hour.
5) Whatever the results, we will be devastated but okay, I know many other countries have survived the worst leaders, it may be a rough four years but we are not alone.
This post is dedicated to my husband and our mutual friend who suggested this idea. They inspired me to write this post.
If you are interested in learning more about how counseling can help with election anxiety, or feeling very alone and want some support, please reach out to me for a few sessions, I offer counseling for women and men. Also, you can contact me to book a 15-minute consultation before the election happens!
