How to deal with stress after election day

How the country wakes up Donald Trump as the predicted winner presidential election, there’s one thing we can all agree on: it’s been a long, hard road to the White House.

Americans are tired, perhaps emotionally scarred and battered, and likely worried about what the next few weeks will bring for a divided nation.

As in 2020, now is a good time to pause and analyze your physical and emotional stress.

“How we deal with stress really makes a difference to our health,” said Dr. Cynthia Akrill, a stress expert and former editor of Contentment, published by the American Institute of Stress.

“When the brain senses any source of danger, even if it’s just worry about what might happen, it will increase your stress level to keep you safe,” Akrill said in an email.

“Thank your brain for doing its job, but make sure you get it out of here,” she added. “It can help you notice automatic reactions, stop automatic thought loops, and help you distinguish fact from fiction.”

Take a time out or take a breather and take care of yourself, your friends and neighbors. Here are the top science-backed ways to give yourself a break.

Breathe, move and make a plan

You can use your body to calm your mind, experts say. Deep, slow belly breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system to counter signs of stress, such as a racing heart and adrenaline rush.

“You don’t even have to stop what you’re doing. Just take a few slow, deep breaths and really feel the sensation of your body,” said Cortland Dahl, author of The Meditator’s Guide to Buddhism and chief meditation practitioner. Healthy Minds Innovations, a nonprofit organization that provides free wellness services. “A few mindful breaths can reset your nervous system and bring much-needed peace to your mind.”

A walk can accomplish the same thing — going outside with an uplifting friend can help reduce stress, Akrill said.

“Make plans to do something today with friends, and bonus if it’s outside — choose something that nourishes your mind, body, spirit, regardless of the outcome of the election,” she said.

Other recommended stress reduction tips include practicing gratitude and eliminating stressful news and social feeds. Do a circle of control exercises in which you list what you have control over, what you can and can’t control, and then don’t worry about what you can’t control, Akrill said.

“Everyone needs regular practices to notice when stress is building up and (a tool belt of) ways to deal with it. This includes mindfulness habits, healthy ways to frame life’s challenges, tools to reduce mental and physical consequences, and ways to stay focused on how to thrive,” she said.

“Unfortunately, most of us haven’t been taught this, so take the stress of the election as a challenge to face the next election with some healthy stress management techniques.”

Don’t get emotional

Emotions are like data, Akrill said in an earlier interview, that are needed to tell you that you have needs that have yet to be met.

“Denial or emotional abuse doesn’t work,” she said. “Make space to process some real feelings: grief, disappointment, frustration, anger or guilt.

“Allow yourself to have the full blanket of emotions that make you human,” Akril added. “Don’t beat yourself up about the ‘shoulds.’ There’s no particular feeling you’re supposed to feel, and rewriting history doesn’t help. Everything you feel is real to you.”

Experts say one way to process your feelings is to write them down until the emotion is on paper. You will know when this happens if you feel the emotional charge diminishing.

You can also reach out to a friend or loved one “that you trust to keep you safe,” Akrill suggested. But choose carefully. Before opening up, she says, ask yourself, “Is this person really helping you cope emotionally?”

Be sure to seek help from a therapist if you feel like you can’t “disconnect from your feelings” or the discomfort becomes too much to bear, she said. “Contrary to what our culture has taught you, help is not a bad four-letter word.”

We are all human

Finding common ground with others is critical to our mental health during times of stress, Akrill said.

“Because the pre-election hype has been so divisive, it could strain our relationship, especially with those who don’t share our views,” she said. “Quite often, we share concerns, fears, and values ​​more than we differ. Finding common ground can create an important antidote to stress – connection.”

Psychologist Tanya Israel, professor of counseling psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, agrees.

“The media and our minds conspire to see people who disagree with us as extreme, illogical, and hateful. In fact, we have much more in common than we realize,” Israel’s email reads.

“Americans share core values ​​such as service, patriotism and bipartisanship. We agree with government accountability and representation, and we defend constitutional liberties and the fair application of laws,” said Israel, author of Facing the Fracture: How to Overcome the Difficulties of Living in a Divided Nation.

“In addition, we all want free and fair elections, support equal rights and do not want government officials to abuse their power.”

Israel pointed to organizations engaged in uniting opposite sides of the political divide in the so-called “bridge movement.”

“The priority is to walk away from that interaction caring more about the other person than whether or not you won that argument, be human first and foremost.” – Caroline Hopper, Managing Director of Citizenship & American Identity Program at the Aspen Institute, told CNN in a previous interview.

The Aspen Institute sponsors the Better Arguments Project, which seeks to create more productive arguments. These conversations should not divide people, the group says. In fact, by learning to argue “better,” we can unite, it says.

“We’re simply not getting the information we need to make informed decisions if we only talk to people who agree with us,” Hopper said. “By exchanging different ideas and perspectives, we often gain deeper understanding and stronger solutions to problems that affect us all.”

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