Throughout history, there can be times of political uncertainty, protesting, or even rioting (for example, the 1/6 Capitol Riots of 2021). For many people this can often cause worry, stress and anxiety about politics. These forms of political stress can include thoughts of catastrophe or destruction of a nation’s political system.
This video clip briefly discusses a reason why we may often fixate or focus on these types of thoughts in response to political events and experience stress or anxiety about them.
The clip then gives research-based ideas on methods to handle or cope with political stress and anxiety.
If you are interested in more info, check out this good research-based book with information about how certain political ideologies form. Or check out this good research-based book about improving relations between political and social groups.
Welcome back, I’m Dr. Matt B and welcome back to your Emotional Minutes. Today we’re talking about stress or anxiety that people can experience in response to political events or differences.
Times of Political Stress and Anxiety
History has times of great political upheaval and other times where people just feel stressed about it. People are feeling really anxious, worried, or concerned about things in the American political system and world politics in general. In times like this, due to how humans have evolved, our attention can fixate on these things and contribute to feelings of distress.
Seek Social Support about Political Stress and Anxiety
The first tip is to seek social support when you feel stress, worry, or concern about these politics. You do want to seek this from trusted sources of support. For instance, people you know you can talk to about things without judgment. Also, while talking, focus on how you’re feeling as opposed to being angry at one side of the political spectrum or a certain group of people. Just focusing on what you feel in general.
Do Things You Care About
The second thing that can be helpful is what we call behavioral activation. This means building behaviors or activities into your day that are meaningful to you or bring you joy. Maybe that’s going on a hike, arts and crafts, or playing a musical instrument. Finding things to do can help focus your attention away from the stress you’re experiencing.
Find a Sense of Control Over Political Stress and Anxiety
Another thing you can do concerns sense of control. When people feel anxiety, worry, or stress about politics, it may be because they feel a sense of lacking control. This can be true for large scale events, such as election results or political protests. It can also be true of smaller events, like arguments with family members. A lot of that stress or anxiety can be linked to a sense of lacking control over those events or the process.
Finding Control: Examine Your Thoughts
A couple of ways you can go about this is to seek perspective and almost question your own thoughts. This is referred to as cognitive reappraisal or cognitive self-talk. A lot of times, thoughts can be pessimistic or catastrophic over these events. They may also fixate or believe that it may lead to the downfall of our system or other negative outcome.
Check in with your thoughts and notice what you’re thinking. Then finding ways to challenge or approach those thoughts differently. Question your thought processes. Is this really going to happen in the worst way possible?
Finding Control: Getting Involved
If you have time or the ability, engage in the electoral process as much as you can. Write to your congressman or congresswoman about topics you are passionate about. Consider volunteering for a political group that’s helping to raise awareness about a certain political issue that you care about. These things can help people engage with the system and feel that they have more control.
Limit Exposure to Political News
The last thing that I’ll say that can be helpful is to try to limit your exposure to political news or articles. This is because it can leads us to focus more on those things and have more negative or catastrophic thoughts. This can increase our anxiety and stress.
One of the things that can be really good is to turn it off. Trying to limit your how often you engage with news stories, political reports, news pundits, or things like that. Try to keep it to just a few minutes a day.
