How to deal with stress after Election Day | CNN

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As the country wakes up to Donald Trump as the expected winner of the presidential election, there’s one thing we can all agree on – it’s been a long, hard-fought road to the White House.

Americans are tired, perhaps traumatized and battered, and perhaps worried about what the next few weeks will bring to a deeply divided nation.

As in 2020, now is a good time to pause and analyze your physical and emotional stress.

Dr. Cynthia Acrill, a stress management expert and former editor of Contentment magazine, published by the American Stress Association, said: “How we perceive our stress is important in our lives.

“When the brain senses any source of danger, even if it’s just worrying about what could happen, it will reset the stress levels to keep you safe,” Acrill said in an email. .

He added: “Thank your brain for doing its job, but make sure you have it from here. “This can help you recognize automatic thoughts, stop automatic thoughts. , and help you sort fact from fiction.”

Take a break or breathe and take care of yourself and your friends and neighbors. Here are some great science-backed ways to cut yourself a break.

Breathe, move and have a plan

You can use your body to help calm your mind, experts say. Deep, slow belly breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system to combat symptoms such as high heart rate and adrenaline rush.

“You don’t even need to stop what you are doing. Just slow down and listen to your body,” said Cortland Dahl, author of “A Meditator’s Guide to Buddhism” and chief meditation officer of Healthy Minds Innovations, a nonprofit organization that provides free health services. A few breaths can restore your nervous system and bring much-needed peace of mind.

Walking can do the same thing — going for a walk in nature with an encouraging friend will add a bonus to reducing stress, Acrill said.

“Plan to do something today with friends, and bonus if it’s outside – choose something that feeds your mind, body, spirit, regardless of the election result,” he said.

Some recommended tips for reducing stress include practicing gratitude and eliminating stressful topics and social foods. Do a series of management exercises where you list what’s in your control, what you can influence and what’s out of your control — and then don’t worry about what you can’t control, Acrill said.

“Everyone needs routines to recognize when stress is taking hold and a (tool belt) of ways to deal with it. This includes mindfulness practices, good planning health problems, tools to reduce the mental and physical effects, and ways to stay focused on how to succeed,” he said.

“Unfortunately, most of us have not been taught these, so take this election stress as a challenge to face the next election with better ways to manage stress.”

Feedback is like data, Acrill said in an earlier interview, needed to tell you that you have needs that still need to be met.

Denying or suppressing your feelings doesn’t work, she said. “Give yourself space to deal with some real feelings: sadness, grief, frustration, anger or guilt.

“Allow yourself to have the full range of emotions that make you who you are,” added Acrill. “Don’t ‘deserve’ yourself. There is no certain way you should feel and rewrite the story because somehow your mistake doesn’t help. Whatever you feel is real to you.”

Experts say one way to deal with your emotions is to write them down until your emotions are on paper—you’ll know when that happens if you feel the emotions diminish.

You can also go to a friend or loved one “whom you trust to handle you safely,” Acrill suggested. But choose carefully. Before sharing with him in detail, he said, ask yourself: “Is this person really helping you cope with the emotional burden?”

Be sure to reach out to a doctor for help if you feel like you can’t “get out of your mind” or the discomfort is too much to bear, she said. “Contrary to what our culture has taught you, help is not a bad four-letter word.”

Finding common ground with others is important for mental health during times of stress, Acrill said.

“Because the noise of the elections has been divisive, it can damage our relations, especially with those who do not agree with our views,” he said. “We often share more concerns, fears and values ​​than we are different. Finding common ground can create the antidote to stress – connection.”

Psychologist Tania Israel, a professor of counseling psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, agrees.

“The media and our minds work together to deceive people who disagree with us into being extreme, irrational and hateful. In fact, we are much more alike than we think,” Israel said of email.

“Americans share fundamental values, such as service, patriotism, and bipartisanship. We agree on the responsibility and representation of government, as well as protecting Constitutional freedoms and the fair application of the laws, ” said Israel, author of the book “Facing the Fracture: How to Navigate the Challenges of Living in a Living Nation.”

Furthermore, we all desire free and fair elections, we support equal rights, and we do not want government officials to abuse their power.”

Israel pointed to organizations dedicated to bringing together the various sides of the political divide in what is known as the “bridging movement.”

“The important thing is to leave the conversation that cares more about the person than whether or not you won the argument — be the first person,” Caroline Hopper, executive director of the Program on Citizenship and American Identity at the Aspen Institute, said. told CNN. in the previous discussion.

The Aspen Institute has sponsored The Better Arguments Project, which strives to develop productive arguments. These discussions don’t have to be divisive, the group says. In fact, it says that by learning to argue “better,” we can come together.

Hopper said: “We don’t get the information we need to make informed decisions if we only interact with people who agree with us.” “By sharing different ideas and perspectives, we often emerge with deeper insights and stronger solutions to problems that affect us all.”