How to Beat Election Anxiety, 2024 Edition
Surviving the next few days without losing our minds IS possible.
Last night, I caught myself doing something that, to be honest, has now become an unconscious habit. I was lying in bed, phone brightness turned all the way down, telling myself "just one more refresh" of the news. For the fifteenth time. I looked up at the clock: Not 2:30 am again! I promised I wouldn't do this to myself again this election… Just like I'd promised during the midterms. And the election before that. And the election before that. But there I was, thumbs cramping, mind spinning with poll analysis and projections from my favorite political wonk (hi, Steve Kornecki!). Meanwhile, I had to be up in a couple of hours. Sound familiar?
Well, apparently, we’re not the only ones, hon. For perspective: according to a survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the American Psychological Association, during the 2020 election, more than two-thirds of Americans reported feeling serious election-related stress. That's right – 68% of us were right there, losing sleep, stress-eating, or endlessly scrolling for results for days on end. And let’s not forget we were still in the midst of a global pandemic! This election cycle is no different. The latest iteration of the same survey reveals that as many as 69% of us feel the election is a significant source of stress in our lives. So if you're feeling anxious too, take a deep breath and remember: you're not overly sensitive or overreacting. You're just a thoughtful person who gives a damn. I feel you.
That said, here are some things you and I can start doing to ensure those cortisol levels don’t crank up to red in the lead-in to the polls:
First up, something I totally suck at: self-care. I know the term has become just another buzzword, but there's a reason everyone keeps talking about it. As feminist Mother and all-around kick-ass female Audre Lorde said: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” So yeah, sometimes in the path to justice, a bit of personal nurturing can go a long way. And I’m not talking about booking a spa session every week (though that can be absolutely amazing).
Sometimes self-care means simply dancing in your kitchen while making dinner, taking 10 minutes to meditate, or having the ‘occasional’ glass of wine. Choose your poison. What I mean is, sometimes just getting outside and literally “touching grass” — as the kids would say — can do wonders for our psyche. And before you call me out, yes, getting actual sleep is also non-negotiable. I’m working on it, okay?
Of course, a big part of self-care is our diet. To be clear, I don’t particularly care about what foods you choose to consume. You do you, boo. But for all intents and purposes, that good old saying “we are what we eat” applies just the same to news and information. And the current iteration of the billionaire-owned mainstream media is more like preservative-laden junk food. So yeah, in this so-called “attention economy,” it may be time for a news regimen. Obviously, I'm not going to recommend anything impossible like a total news blackout (we both know that won't happen.)
Instead, how about aiming for a balanced news meal? Say, instead of refreshing your Twitter feed every fifteen seconds (yes, I still call it Twitter), why not schedule specific check-in times during your morning coffee and again after dinner? Or researching who is behind a news item before potentially wasting your time reading it? How about scheduling notification summaries from those political applications that keep pinging you all day? Trust me, the news will still be there — clickbaits and all — when you are mentally ready to face it again.
And speaking of clearing out our mental space, let’s talk about deflating that huge ball of hot air that is a certain tangerine-hued current contender to the White House. You know what could totally take the wind out of his sails? Simply refusing to get sucked into his drama circus. You see, attention-hungry narcissists like him thrive on outrage – every angry tweet, every heated debate, every shocked reaction feeds life into them. But when we shift our focus away from their chaos, suddenly their noise becomes background static. It's like starving a flame of oxygen: without our energy and attention, their inflammatory tactics lose power.
I know, I know: It’s hard to stand back and ignore the toxic waste that regularly spews out of his mouth. I also know that sometimes we need to call him out on his bulls**t. But getting all wound up about whatever inflammatory thing he said this week keeps us from more productive uses of our mental energy. So let’s make a deal: for the next couple of days —before, during and immediately after the election — we’re going to concentrate on OUR utterly-accomplished candidate and the initiatives that genuinely excite us: Equality. Racial justice. Human, immigrant, LGBTQIA+ and reproductive rights. World peace. Programs that actually benefit working people and families. A working democracy. The policies and community changes we want to see. The future we want to build. The REAL reasons why we're actually voting.
And while we’re on the subject: What if we could channel all that nervous energy into something meaningful? What if instead of stress-eating while doom-scrolling, we channeled that energy into our communities? I can say, some of my most rewarding experiences have come from things like helping my family make voting plans, canvassing, or volunteering at voter registration drives. There's something incredibly empowering about being actively involved in making democracy work: you find yourself too busy to stress quite as much.
An added bonus? Not only does getting involved on these last few days before the election make a world of difference, it can also help us start building the community we’ll need to keep up the good fight! Because, let’s be real: no single election has ever made or broken a movement. To me, elections are like taking the subway –or any public transportation, for that matter. If you’ve ever been to New York (where I live), it’s a given that when you board the train, it won’t take you door to door. It’ll take you to the station that is closer to where you want to go. Sometimes you end up a few blocks away. Sometimes you need to switch trains. Sometimes the train you need is running on a different line. Heck, sometimes they run in the opposite direction of where we want to go!
Similarly, elections rarely deliver us exactly where we want society to be. But just like in dealing with the subway, getting commute-anxiety doesn’t really help. The game calls for a clear mind. And as any New Yorker will tell you, there's always another route. Maybe you need to transfer to a different line, which in movement terms means building new coalitions or finding different approaches. Maybe you need to walk a few extra blocks, putting in that grassroots work we sometimes forget about. Or maybe you just need to wait for the express train. Timing really is everything, both in transit and in creating change. That DOES NOT mean we’re going to just lay down and take it. No, fam. We’re gonna fight back like hell!
So here’s my point: in four days, we have the chance to decide the future of U.S. democracy as we know it. And yes, potentially, the future of the world too. So please, please, please, go VOTE. Even better, early vote. Urge as many people as you can to do it too. Then work on getting some shut-eye. Yes, it’ll be hard to stop our minds from ping-ponging between worst-case scenarios and the latest piece of rage-bait. But if I've learned one thing from both subway travels and election cycles, no single trip defines our entire journey.
Regardless of who is victorious on November 5th, the fight for justice will continue. What matters is to stay on course, be ready to adjust our itinerary if needed, and keep our destination in sight. We may catch the express train or stop at every station along the way, but as long as we keep moving forward – not going back – we will get closer to where we ultimately want to be. Easier said than done, for sure. But we already knew that, didn’t we? *wink, wink*
~ER
* Yes, the image is AI-generated.