Election anxiety: How to manage stress during pivotal week at the polls

Feeling the stress of the 2024 election?

The anxiety among Americans is building as we enter the final stretch of the 2024 presidential election, according to a recent survey.

The results of a survey by the American Psychological Association show that 69% of adults believe this election cycle is a significant source of stress and  77% of Americans – or more than 7 in 10 adults – are stressed in general over the future of the nation.

At the same time, the poll found many common stressors among people with different political party affiliations.

Compared with the previous two U.S. presidential elections, stress related to the election was similar to 2020 but significantly higher than in 2016.

What sets the 2024 poll apart from previous APA election surveys is the collective stress about the potential fallout from the election results. More than 7 in 10 adults said they are worried the election results could lead to violence, and more than half of adults said they believed the 2024 presidential election could be the end of democracy in the U.S.

Meanwhile, around a third of adults said the political climate has caused strain among themselves and their family members, with 30% saying they limit their time with family because they don’t share the same values.

Click here to read more.

“For nearly a decade, people have faced a political climate that is highly charged, which has led to the erosion of civil discourse and strained our relationships with our friends and our families. But isolating ourselves from our communities is a recipe for adding more stress to our lives,” said APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr. in a statement. “We must remember that the most extreme voices are often the loudest and that the majority of adults share similar values and concerns.”

Dr. Lorenzo Norris, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and chief wellness officer at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said Americans were already stressed leading up to this election.

"The country has been more stressed, period. That was going into the pandemic, as well as coming out of the pandemic. So that's not surprising,” he told NBC News.

He said the election is creating what is called “acute stress” in people, which is defined as a dramatic or psychological reaction to a specific event.

“The election can represent a form of acute stress but also make sure that you understand, what are the chronic things that I have going on in my life? What are ongoing sources of stress that really put me into, for lack of a better word, an activated fight or flight response?” Dr. Norris said. “Is it elder care? Is it childcare? Is it finances and really take a hard look at like how you can actually address those regardless of the election outcome.”

WAYS TO RELIEVE ELECTION STRESS

Norris said any form of exercise and meditation, no matter how long, will be very important this week. That includes getting sunlight and simply staying in motion.

"60-minutes of activity daily. Do it in 10-minute spurts. Perfect is the enemy of good. Get up in your chair, and just do a stretch. Just do something, go for a walk. You will be amazed at the amount of stress that gets reduced. I do a lot of mindful walking,” he said.

Limit the amount of caffeine and alcohol you consume this week. Caffeine can disrupt your sleep if consumed less than six hours before bed. Alcohol can also disrupt your sleep.

Doomscrolling on social media can be another trigger, Norris said, to more anxiety. That can lead to something called “negativity bias” where our brains are wired to focus on the bad, more than the good.

“Avoid catastrophic thinking. The way to actually avoid catastrophic thinking is to actually say what you're [thinking] out loud with someone and bring it down. Say, ‘Ok, that's the worst-case scenario. Can I think maybe what's less than that likely? Or even best case," said Norris.

Norris said it will be crucial for people to limit social media intake. He suggests keeping TVs and cellphones out of the bedroom you sleep in at night this week as a way to help reduce stress.

“You want to know what's really hard? Put [the phones] on do not disturb or turn them off, at least do it for a couple of days during this election cycle,” he said.

Experts add it’s important to seek professional help when the anxiety becomes too overwhelming.

Click here for more tips.