Tackling Election Anxiety with Ahead

How to tackle election anxiety?

Are you feeling anxiety about a certain upcoming election? Trust me…. Me too. As an American, I feel a dull ache in my stomach whenever I think about this coming Tuesday.

Those of you in swing states or with the ability to canvass, vote, demonstrate etc should of course go out and be active citizens. And everyone should remember to vote, especially where it really matters. But no matter what we do, the results of this election are not within our individual control. Which is difficult… Not being in control of important things is perhaps one of the things that makes human beings most anxious!

And it’s not that things are out of our control that makes this election anxiety provoking. Elections like this are psychologically difficult for quite a few reasons. Here are some of the other reasons that elections are likely to feel particularly stressful. 

The reasons we have election anxiety

1. Politics is personal and hard to talk about with others.

Our political views are some of the beliefs we hold that are most closely tied to our sense of ourselves as good people (I write about this in my forthcoming book!) This can mean that talking with other people about the election can be incredibly stressful because their disagreement with us isn’t just about an abstract concept or idea but about some of our mostly closely held beliefs and values.

2. The result of these elections is very uncertain, driving even more anxiety

This election is on a knife’s edge. It’s not clear who will win or if the results will be contested, protested or more. So we’re all living with a great deal of uncertainty, and research shows uncertainty is really painful - in fact, some research indicates people would rather know a bad outcome will happen then live with uncertainty about it. No wonder some people you know might already be assuming the “worst” will happen.

3. The stakes are high, which can lead us to ruminate (or think obsessively about the same thing)

With elections that have lower stakes, we might not care as much. But with this one, for may people, the stakes feel enormous. So we’re likely to think ahead about the future and what will happen if we don’t see the outcome we want.

The more we dwell on a thought, however, the more we reinforce it in our neural pathways and the more our brain automatically returns to it. Soon we can’t get away from our worries at all, even though worrying isn’t helping us. It’s a vicious cycle!

What can we do to feel less election anxiety? 

The Ahead app teaches techniques for conquering anxiety in our anxiety journey. Here are a few that may be especially helpful in these circumstances.

1. Ring fence your worries

Grab a jar, journal, or turn to a new part of the notes section of your phone. This is where your worries go (and they don’t go anywhere else for the most part.)

If you’ve got a jar, for example, you might write down a current worry about the election, fold it, and place it inside. Whenever you have an election worry, it can go on that jar, or in that part of your journal or phone (ok, you might need a big jar…)

Remember, it's not about ignoring your worries but about giving them their rightful space without letting them sprawl everywhere.

What this looks like in practice:

🫙 Stressed about what will happen after the election? Jot it down and pop it into your "worry jar" for later.

✍️ After reading the news, write down your worries and then move on to something els.

🚧 You might also ring fence time carefully during these last few days. Perhaps-no reading political news after dinner? Or before bed?

By the way, Ring Fencing also means not constantly checking your phone to look at the newest polls- yes, that’s a form of worrying too, and no, you don’t need to be informed about those polls 24/7

2. Practice breaking worry spirals

One of the best things we can do is call out our brains when they jump into their usual patterns of worry. It can literally be helpful to say to ourselves “that’s a sign of worry” when we notice a bodily change or a frequent thought pattern like “if X wins…”

Then we can pivot. It can be helpful to have a go-to distraction, even if it’s a bit boring.

You might:

👥 Check in with a friend instead whenever you have the same repeated election worries

🍳Switch to planning recipes or checking sports scores whenever you find yourself checking the polls

🚶Put down your phone and go on a small walk when you feel your body getting anxious

3. Use controlled breathing to stay calm

Breathing plays a big role in how anxiety affects our body. During fight or flight it becomes shallow so we can get lots of oxygen to our muscles, which sends signals to increase adrenaline levels! This can send us into a cycle of spiking adrenalin and shallower breaths, meaning that our balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide is all out of whack. But don’t worry, we can switch our cycles back to normal, by taking control of our breathing, slowing it down, and helping reduce our anxiety levels to a level where things feel much more under control!

What this looks like:

Inhale for 10 counts, then exhale for 10 too.

Do this several times at least, whenever you feel your body switch into anxiety mode. It sounds a bit dull or cheesy, but it’s literally a reset button for the anxious body!

We even have a nifty tool on our app that can help you do this whenever you need:

4. Talk to others wisely about election anxiety

Finally, a few tips for those difficult chats with people you disagree with (anyone struggling with in-laws?) This will help you to be less annoyed, more at peace.  If you choose to talk to people about politics, listen deeply, and ask them open-ended questions and ask about what they’re not sure about (this helps people acknowledge their own uncertainty rather than reinforce their certainty). It also seems to help to share your own first person experiences according to some research.

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Be gentle with yourself. Elections are hard, and this one is especially so. It’s ok to be anxious about it (of course) but it’s also good to not let this wreck havoc on your nervous system or take over your mind.

Whatever happens, in the weeks to come you’ll still need to take care of your body and mind. And we can help at Ahead, where we teach emotional intelligence and mental wellbeing in small totally-manageable techniques.

Now stop checking the news and go do something nice for yourself!