Over the past century our country has faced challenging periods ripe with uncertainty and stress: World War II, anti-war protests and draft lottery during Vietnam, assassination of a U.S. president and civil rights leader, Watergate, 9/11 terrorist attack and others.
Add to that list our current political climate as a new presidential administration enacts constant and sweeping changes to laws and programs impacting us and the country we call home.
“No matter what your political beliefs or affiliations, it's safe to say all Americans are now living through a unique moment in our nation's history,” writes Michigan Medicine in an article entitled “5 Ways to Manage Politically Induced Stress.”
Politically induced stress has been growing, according to the 2024 Stress in America survey conducted by the American Psychological Association: In 2016, the presidential election caused significant stress for 52% of adults—in 2024 that number jumped to 69%, and 77% of adults said the future of our nation was a significant source of stress in their lives.
“In general, we know that chronic stress harms psychological well-being and physical well-being. It takes a toll on our bodies,” said Brett Ford, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto who studies the link between emotions and political engagement. “There’s a strong case to be made that for many people, politics is a form of chronic stress.”
We react to stress in different ways, and our age, level of education and political involvement can affect how we handle stress during an election, according to a North Carolina State University study.
Older adults are more likely to vote, especially in presidential elections, and typically have an increased stake in economic issues, including social security and home ownership, which may make them feel more vulnerable, researchers found. That said, “older adults are more likely to employ life experiences and learned skills that they can leverage to adaptively approach daily stressors as compared to their younger counterparts,” according to the study.
Michigan Medicine’s 5 tips to reduce politically induced stress are:
"While it's important to be aware of what's going on in our country and the world, you need to take care of yourself and your mental health too," said Michelle Riba, M.D., M.S., psychiatrist and member of the University of Michigan Eisenberg Family Depression Center.
In January Diana Butler Bass, author, historian and public theologian, wrote an article for her blog “The Cottage” titled “What are we going to do?” In it, she shared 10 Ws to deal with these uncertain times. Here are 5 of them:
While politically induced stress may be new to us, stress in general is something we navigate throughout our life.
Many of these tips you know, but it’s always helpful to review when facing a stressful situation. Here are 5 more “stress relievers,” these from Mayo Clinic.