Anxious About the Election? So Are 70% of Americans — Here's How to Protect Your Mental Health

• Up to 70% of Americans say they are experiencing anxiety and frustration as the US presidential election approaches
• There are ways to manage election stress, Dr. Christopher Fisher, director of adult outpatient psychiatry at Northwell Zucker Hillside Hospital, tells PEOPLE.
• He suggests better management of phone use as well as getting back into hobbies to “disassociate ourselves from the stressors we have.”

Election Day is approaching in an increasingly divided country, leaving many Americans worried about what will happen on November 5th.

As presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump trade criticism in the media, up to 70% of Americans say they feel frustrated or anxious, the Associated Press reports. dr. Christopher Fisher, director of adult outpatient psychiatry at Northwell Zucker Hillside Hospital, tells PEOPLE that he’s seeing patients with “increasing anxiety, a lot of worry, a lot of fear” and, he adds, “something hopeless about what’s being heard.”

“It’s challenging to deal with this election stress and anxiety, especially because people’s words and the rhetoric that is used really carries a lot of heavy meaning — sometimes it threatens our most basic kind of ideologies and principles,” he explains.

But there are ways to manage election stress as Election Day approaches, Fisher tells PEOPLE.

Stock image of someone scrolling on their phone late at night.

cold snow storm/Getty

Yes, your smartphone is keeping you from sleeping — and not just because you’re scrolling

Set your limits

“If turning off the TV isn’t an option, we can set boundaries,” says Fisher. “We are the guardians of the information we receive. Creating specific times when we check for updates and sticking to those times can help us avoid the constant flow of stress with all the overwhelming information—especially as we get closer to it,” she advises.

And if someone tries to drag you into what Fisher calls a “controversial conversation,” he says, “if you’re feeling emotionally high and you’re not ready to have a constructive conversation, [let] someone knows at work, [let] someone in your family knows: ‘This is not the best time for me. Let me get back to you on that.’ ”

“In general, everywhere, we struggle to set boundaries,” she tells PEOPLE. “But it’s something we can impose, and we get better at it the more we practice. By setting that boundary and taking time, we can reduce our emotional reactions and be more willing to have constructive conversations about these things.”

Don’t sleep with your phone

Part of that, he says, is making sure you don’t sleep with your phone nearby.

“Especially during this heightened political climate, we want to make sure we’re charging. And we recharge by switching off. We don’t charge our electric cars while they’re driving. We have to somehow set them aside, let them recharge, and then use them again. We must do the same thing with our minds, with our hearts, with our emotions. We have to put them aside, let them fill up,” says Fisher.

He advises putting your phone in “an area where your phone is out of reach,” suggesting that charging overnight in another room is one way to “build a barrier [and] make it difficult for yourself to consume that information.”

As Fisher points out, “There was a time when we lived without these things and were still updated and informed. It’s going faster right now.”

Picture of voting booths.

Mario Tama/Getty

Do creative hobbies

Fisher also suggests returning to creative places—things she says are “the first things we remove from our calendar” when we’re “overwhelmed.”

“These are things that should remain on our calendar, be fixed, and around them we build our stressful responsibilities. In this way, we are better able to maintain a healthy balance because stress is a part of life.”

Some ideas, he says, might be “working in the yard, going for a walk, walking the dogs or animals,” as well as “making time to meet with friends, reading books— [but] obviously unrelated to politics — to start a new Netflix or television series … just to have something to distract from the stressors we have.”

Anxiety screening for all adults under 65 is now recommended at check-ups

Surround yourself with people you trust

And on Election Day — and the days after — Fisher said those who feel anxious should try to “be around those who are kind of your anchors — who you trust, who you feel comfortable with.”

“If we’re alone and immersed in our phones, it creates more vulnerability. We are more sensitive to stress when we are alone.”

And if you’ve already voted, or “If you know who you’re voting for, it’s time to take a break,” he says. “It’s a way of taking control of the things we can—and relinquishing control of the things we can’t.”

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Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education