Yes, election anxiety is a real thing.\u00a0 The polls closed on Tuesday, and here we are still waiting for results.\u00a0 Many of us have been on the edges of our seats with anticipation, anxiety, and either\u00a0 hope or fear.\u00a0 If you have been on any social media feed, you likely saw a variety of posts about different views and some strong opinions.\u00a0 You may be doing the posting yourself.\u00a0 Here are just a few things that I have heard others say: “I think that our country is going to have a civil war”, “The economy is going to be really bad”, “I am afraid that the KKK down the street is going to tie a noose around my neck”, “They can come try to take my guns if they want but there will be a fight”, “The whole country is going to shut down again”, “My husband’s business is already in trouble as it is”, “Get ready for the rioting again”, “People are going to die”, “Taxes are going to sky rocket and gas prices too”, “I am afraid for my child if he is elected”, and I could really go on and on here.\u00a0 I share these with you to show that many people are experiencing election anxiety.\u00a0 Many people are experiencing tense muscles, body aches, constant and distracting thoughts, and even getting physically sick.\u00a0 While these symptoms may alleviate for some once our country has finally announced the winner of the presidential election, for others these feelings and thoughts will remain.\u00a0 Because you matter, and so does your mental and physical health, here are a few tips on handling the election and post-election anxiety that you may be experiencing:<\/p>\n
2. Understand your own values and beliefs.\u00a0 If we all believed in the same values, there would be no need to have different political parties or other differing affiliations.\u00a0 Take some time to think about why you believe what you believe in and what this means for you.\u00a0 Once you consider your beliefs, think about the reason you voted or chose not to vote based on the beliefs.\u00a0 They are your beliefs, and it is okay that you think one way that may be different from others.\u00a0 Also, apply this same thinking to others when you feel strong emotions about the beliefs they are sharing.<\/p>\n
3. Apply your other beliefs, the positive ones.\u00a0 Do you have religious or faith beliefs that shed hope and peace on difficult situations?\u00a0 Which scriptures, psalms, proverbs, songs or adages make you feel more at peace and with hope? Make post-it notes and stick them all over your bathroom mirror, around your t.v. frame, on your desk at work, and in your car.\u00a0 Surround yourself with these positive post-it notes and read them whenever those anxious thoughts come creeping in your mind.\u00a0 Read them over and over again, until you are thinking them on your own.\u00a0 And, then you can replace the thoughts of anxiety and fear with hope and peace.<\/p>\n
4. Seek support.\u00a0 What natural supports do you have that can help during this time?\u00a0 Not all family and friends make things better, especially when the beliefs you hold differ from theirs. Sometimes, these people can actually make things worse. If your family, friends, and other natural supports are not what you need at this time, seek professional support.\u00a0 There is no shame in seeing a counselor to help you process and manage your anxiety in order to have better daily functioning.\u00a0 Many therapists are trained in cognitive-behavior therapies that will help you decrease your election and post-election anxiety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yes, election anxiety is a real thing.\u00a0 The polls closed on Tuesday, and here we are still waiting for results.\u00a0 Many of us have been on the edges of our seats with anticipation, anxiety, and either\u00a0 hope or fear.\u00a0 If you have been on any social media feed, you likely saw a variety of posts … Continue reading Election Anxiety<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopeinhealingfamilyservices.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopeinhealingfamilyservices.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopeinhealingfamilyservices.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopeinhealingfamilyservices.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopeinhealingfamilyservices.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hopeinhealingfamilyservices.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopeinhealingfamilyservices.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopeinhealingfamilyservices.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopeinhealingfamilyservices.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}