Election Anxiety
Election Day for the USA is November 5th. As we near this most consequential day of casting our important vote, there is collective exhaustion, anxiety, and fear. And, there is a renewed energized hope, excitement, and joy! It is a dialectical dilemma, for sure. If you find yourself either feeling overwhelmed or powerless, you are not alone!
Many of us ruminate about whether our vote will count or make a difference in the sea of divisiveness in the US. Many feel angry and disenfranchised about everything from the economy to the state of our nation overall. No matter what your political persuasion is, this much is true, I believe: each person's vote counts. Each person's vote matters! And, so I encourage you to cast your vote, as this is a way to exercise your agency and reclaim some of your own power.
As anxiety heightens, we can also engage several self-soothe skills to manage it. TIPP, a DBT skill (Temperature, Intensive Exercise, Paced Breathing, and Paired Muscle Relaxation) is one immediately effective tool. When you notice feeling anxious--increased heart rate, sweaty palms, panicky feelings throughout your body, grab an ice pack or anything frozen (a bag of peas) and hold it against your forehead and/or back of neck for 3 minutes; at the same time, do 3 minutes of deep box breathing--breathing in through your nostril for 4 seconds, holding at the top of the breath 4 seconds, opening your mouth and blowing out 4 seconds, and resting 4 seconds. This will immediately lower your heart rate while also releasing oxytocin (the chill hormone) in our brain. This change is called the Mammalian Dive Effect.
If you are familiar with DBT skills in general, you know that there are many effective skills under each module: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotional Regulation, and Interpersonal Communication. Another skill is to engage in bilateral somatic movement. This can be walking, swinging, swaying, bicycling, dancing, running, or yoga. Bilateral somatic movement helps to re-regulate our nervous system and vagus nerve.
The most important thing to remember is anxiety is a neuro-biological response to something that we perceive as frightening, overwhelming, or disturbing. Given the political, economic, social, and cultural consequences of this year's election, please know there is collective anxiety. We are not alone. And, we can choose to manage the anxiety so that it does not manage us!
If you are struggling with chronic anxiety, depression, or Post-Traumatic Stress symptoms, please fill out a contact form on this website and I will reach back out within 24 hours. Until then, practice extreme self-care during these challenging times.