Dealing with election anxiety? You are not alone. Berkshire mental health professionals have tips to help us cope

Doomscrolling presidential campaign news at 2 am? According to recent polls on who is leading in battleground states like Pennsylvania?

You are not alone.

Republic. Democrats. Individuals. Voters of all political parties have electoral concerns about whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump will win the White House.

The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reported this week that seven out of 10 Americans are concerned and frustrated about the campaign, which culminates in Tuesday’s election.

Eight in 10 Democrats are worried. In 2020, it was 7 out of 10.

Two-thirds of Republicans polled are worried. It has increased from 6 to 10 in 2020.

In the Berkshires, the concern is understandable, according to experts.

Pittsfield psychologist Nicole Harrington said: “I’ve been in practice for almost 30 years and I can’t remember a time when politics started therapy as often as it does now. The people we see are coming through the past and want to talk about it. ”

Jonah Bayer, a counselor at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, said: “What I see is a lot of anxiety because, as humans, we have a problem with uncertainty. We want to have a clear answer now, and we have to wait. ”

Anthony Hamling, Lee’s CHP Berkshires adviser, said: “A lot of people are saying, ‘If it doesn’t go the way I hope it will, I don’t know what I’m going to do. . . . I will.’ fear I may have to move.’ I’m hearing a lot of worrying thoughts from people who are thinking about a disaster coming their way.”

HIGH POLITICS

For some, politics has become personal – especially on issues that directly affect people: Immigration and border security, reproductive health, voting rights, federal government arms, civil rights .

In Williamstown, students who lead EphVotes, a nonprofit group that helps Williams College students register to vote, say they’ve seen and experienced those concerns.

“We live in a time where the media and the ability to get information is so widespread that you’re constantly reminded” of the elite, said Lena Kerest, a senior from Burlington, Vt., who leads EphVotes. This is like a historical moment, so it’s hard to keep that information in your face and not feel like you have anything to worry about.

Kerest, stressing that he was speaking as a candidate and not on behalf of EphVotes, said reproductive freedom and the erosion of democratic values ​​are major concerns for Williams students.

“Seeing someone with such a big platform in the community, talking about changing that and wanting to restructure the way our government works for his political purposes really resonated with the students,” Kerest said. many.” “I think a lot of women students at Williams are acutely aware of the fact that their rights, whether it’s about reproduction, like birth control or abortion or anything related to that, can change dramatically under the Trump presidency.”

Hamling said, in his practice, he is hearing from immigrants in the Berkshires who are worried about Trump’s commitment to mass detention and deportation.

“There is a fear that ‘No. 1, can I vote? Do I have a say in this?’ No. 2, ‘If I vote, is it safe for something to happen to me?'” Hamling said. “As it continues, they say, ‘I want to live in this country…. I have a life here, I have lived here X-number of years, I am very afraid that I will have to leave and take I can have a choice.’

CONFIRMED

Mental health experts such as Harrington, Bayer and Hamling say keeping Tuesday’s vote in the right place, and managing how one gets involved in the voting process, are ways to manage the situation. be completely avoided. Doing what you can to advocate for your beliefs, such as voting and campaigning for your candidate, can help, they said. They said that to avoid isolation.

“People will be busy, especially on Election Day and election night, watching the news and clicking on every site,” Hamling said. “Make sure you have other people around you. Don’t isolate yourself, especially if you’re scared.”

For Jessica Kim, a sophomore at Williams in Boston and a student leader with EphVotes, the signs are still there. Living in Massachusetts, studying in Williamstown and helping students participate in the democratic process helped.

“There are days when I don’t think about it at all. And then, like, it hits me when I read the news, and I’m like, ‘Wow, this is so big,'” Kim said. “And I think maybe it’s just a way to deal with anxiety, because I think . it really has big problems.”

Constant consumption of current news, election results, Electoral College predictions and campaign speeches can exacerbate election anxiety. Prioritizing self-care and understanding that no one person can control what happens on Tuesday can help, experts said.

“It affects our lives. There’s a lot at stake and it’s very important,” Bayer said. “We don’t want to push it away, but we have to live with it.”

But that desperation comes with a price.

“When we think and think, we feel like we’re dealing with the problem but we’re getting caught up in the anxiety because we don’t know,” Bayer said.

As anxiety builds and consumes, it obscures other aspects of people’s lives — the things that help people maintain perspective and remember the good, Harrington said.

That can lead to catastrophizing – thinking and fearing the worst.

GOT A VISION

But are those possible outcomes – the worst – realistic?

Harrington said: “It doesn’t seem like a lot of people, whatever the outcome, will have lost all the people they care about or all the work they’ve done.

One way to think about the worst-case scenario, he said, is to “focus on all the good things in your life — your relationships, the people you see and hear doing good things in the world.” . Small, beautiful pleasures.”

“We start to lose them when we fall into the bigger picture of the crisis,” Harrington added. “It’s easy to lose sight of all the important things, the things that are still so important that we hold on to.”

The other thing, Harrington said, is hopelessness — a complete loss of hope — that is “crippling, and it doesn’t serve anybody.”

“Disappointment is a terrible place to fall individually and socially. We shouldn’t make that the end,” Harrington said.

PUT ON THE LIGHTS

Regarding political conflicts with friends and family, especially with the upcoming holidays: Hamling says it’s important to set boundaries that will preserve important relationships.

“People say, ‘I have friends and family who are going to vote that way. I don’t know if I can still be friends with these people or be involved with family,'” said Hamling. “You have to create some kind of boundary. Make an agreement not to talk about politics or talk about who you’re voting for.”

He also asked people to try not to let politics destroy friendships or family relationships. “They can still be family, they can still be friends. We can agree to disagree.”

Taking action through their work with EphVotes has helped, Kim and Kerest said.

Kerest said: “Even though it’s a stressful time, our student body is really busy.