On Mental Health and Politics
How do we respond to the world around us?
With everything unfolding in our country at the moment, it is easy to assume that the population’s mental health is being affected — and it is. In November of 2024, Oura, the pioneer of smart rings, published an article addressing trends among their users in response to the United States’ elections. They found that daytime stress and heart rates increased at the time of the high-stakes election. While this data confirms what we already know about the way our country’s political climate impacts us, the question remains: How do we, as individuals, respond to this data? What can we do now that the situation is more uncertain and stressful than it was two months ago?
I think these types of circumstances tend to affect people who are more empathetic. We see suffering around us, and we want to do something about it. For others, it is easily to take the stance of, “It is not affecting me or my family directly, so I am not going to focus on it.” In an echo of what Martin Luther King, Jr. said, I believe empaths understand that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Advocating and defending others is ultimately a way of protecting ourselves because we understand that if the tables were flipped, we would want a good Samaritan defending us. At the same time, we think, “What can I do? What can one person do to take a stand and actually make a difference?” It is precisely this thinking that torments us the most. Our inability to control the suffering around us tortures us, robs us of our voice, and makes us angry because ultimately it makes us feel that we are not in control, in a position to help, not only others, but ourselves. And that leads to anger and depression.
The truth is, there is always something we can do, and that which we cannot do, we need to let go of. Here are a few things we can do to take care of ourselves and still make a difference:
Practice self-care
When you do not know where to start, start by working on yourself. Exercising will help burn cortisol and literally lower stress levels in your body. It will give you more energy and help you feel better about yourself. Eat well, spend time doing the things you love, and get enough sleep. Furthermore, spending time with your loved ones, socializing, spending time outdoors, and generally developing and maintaining healthy hobbies and routines help keep you feeling good and having your empathic battery recharged. If you are religious, going to church will replenish your spiritual side and possibly help you with the socializing aspect as well.
Know your limits
When you are not at your best, you cannot help others. It is okay to take a step back and “regroup” until you are ready to continue helping others. However, there is a difference between taking a step back and becoming idle. Taking a step back might look like applying more boundaries with friends, spending less time socializing, or prioritizing your personal life before your professional life. A healthy approach of taking a step back looks like using a reasonable amount of time off to replenish. An unhealthy approach would be more like disappearing off the face of the earth for months and ignoring all your friends/family during that time.
Control your news exposure
As a society, we have failed to understand the way news affect us. It used to be something that was delivered by a physical messenger on horseback, through radio, or some sort of telegram. Eventually, it evolved into something that is televised, photographed, streamed, and worse yet, monetized. It is now something that is shoved down your throat the moment you open social media. This is because the more engagement, the more likely it is to turn up a revenue. There are news sources that unjustly manipulate people to increase and maintain a profit. Find an unbiased news source that you can rely on to give you the facts without manipulation. Schedule a time to catch up on news and follow that schedule. For example, when the war in Ukraine began, many people were religiously following it 24/7 for the first few weeks. Naturally, their mental health declined. On the flip-side, many people completely shut off from the news. Neither are healthy approaches. A healthier approach would have been to schedule “briefing” times several times throughout the week. 30+ years ago, people would only “read/watch the news” once or twice a day, usually in the morning and at night. Social media has changed that drastically.
Boycott
I keep hearing people say, “If I would boycott every company that has a belief I disagree with, I wouldn’t be able to support any company.” I do not know that I agree with this “all or nothing” mentality. Boycotting, for starters, will make you feel like you are regaining some control over the situation. It makes you feel that you are doing something. You do not have to boycott everything, but you can certainly do without giving your money to every business that has practices you disagree with. You can use that money to support local businesses or even other hobbies/interests.
Vote
The feeling of “Why am I even voting?” is one that I think most of us can relate to. For years, the majority of the people where I live in would vote the same way, and people felt like they did not need to vote because they already knew the outcome for the region. Until recently, that flipped. As a result, people started to realize, “I need to vote because what is actually happening is not what the majority of us want!” And it is not just the presidential elections that matter. As citizens, it is our responsibility to get involved with our communities and know what is happening at a local, state, and federal level. There is little education happening in the subjects of government, politics, policies, laws, and philosophy.
Research
What you do not know can still affect you. Read up on historical events and their effects. You may begin to notice parallels between the world then and the world now. It is not enough to read the news and consider everything as truth because not all of it is. We must question. If you are worried about a particular bill, look it up and interpret the text for yourself. You can have the answers at your fingertips.
In the world today, there is much to be sad and angry about. However, as I previously stated, we always feel worse when we think we have no control over the things that are happening to us. By focusing on what we can control we alleviate some of the burden of the situation and make it slightly more manageable or tolerable. I am interested to know what other empathetic people do to cope with what happens in the world around them. How do we prepare for the uncertainty and chaos that life inevitably brings?
