How to Manage High-Functioning Anxiety During Election Season

Aloha and welcome,

Election season can often feel like an emotional roller coaster, right? It’s not uncommon for high-functioning professionals to experience heightened anxiety during this time. Have you ever felt that election-induced anxiety creeping in? How did it manifest for you, and what did you do to cope with it?

In the latest episode of the Anxiety Ease podcast, I dive into the timely topic of managing anxiety that somehow seems to come up every four years. Let's chat about practical strategies to help you stay calm and centered during conversations with others and the anxious conversations you are having with yourself!

Mahalo,
Dr. Lisa Hartwell

Episode Links:

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Get your copy of Dr. Hartwell's new book, Cultivating Professional Success: Even When High Functioning Anxiety Drives You To The Edge at www.drlisahartwell.com

Enroll in my FREE Hartwell Anxiety Assessment: www.hartwellanxietyassessment.com

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Transcript

Hello there, my wonderful listeners. It's Dr. Lisa Hartwell, your go to guide for navigating the choppy waters of high functioning anxiety at times. And boy, oh boy, do we have a timely topic today. And that is how to keep your cool and your anxiety in check during this election season. And I thought long and hard about making a podcast episode about this and talking about it because it is everywhere.

 And I just wanted to come on and talk about because, you know, four years ago, my practice exploded with lots of people coming in and just needing a safe container to talk about their feelings. And on the one hand, I'm so happy to be here, to be able to allow people to do that. On the other hand, it makes me kind of sad that people don't feel like they have any place that's safe, that they feel like they can stand up politically in a period where it feels like an emotional roller coaster. So go ahead and grab your cup of tea, get comfy. Let's chat about how to stay calm and centered over these next few months.

I know what it's like. You are probably not sleeping and your brain is on overdrive the minute your head hits the pillow at night. I get it. And I also know how to fix it. I got three steps for you. There's three steps that I use with every single client to get you back to sleep. So we can address that high functioning anxiety at a later time. We got to get you sleeping first.

So jump into the show notes, grab the link, get your three step mini guide that includes a very, very easy step by step process to walk you through how to get back to sleep. A nice little quiet meditation to help you go to sleep. And then I have a easy, easy process of doing some bullet journaling to help you understand why you're probably not sleeping. Go ahead and grab that in the show notes with the link. It'll cost you less than a cup of coffee or whatever you drink to keep you awake during the day. Hey, maybe we'll just switch that out for some lemon water. How does that sound? All right, you take care and happy sleeping.

One of the things I kind of want to cover in this segment is really understanding this, shall we call it election induced anxiety? I think it should be in the DSM, which is our book of diagnoses, because, wow, we are on a second roll here.

And first of all, what I want to talk about is possibly some of the reasons why elections crank up our own anxiety levels. And I want you to think of your mind as a sponge. Our brains are really soaking up the stress and tensions swirling around you. The news, social media is nonstop. Even casual conversations can make that sponge feel heavy and soggy. And have you ever felt that way? I certainly have. I know even just going up to pay a bill and somebody that I was paying the bill to was watching nonstop one of the networks, and it was instantly, instantly in my face about where they stood and didn't I see their way of thinking, which I did not. But I felt myself actually physically sick because I felt, I think definitely I felt anxious, but it was more like I felt overwhelmed about it.

I just, I  wasn't prepared for that. I just came up to pay this bill, wasn't prepared to have a conversation about my stance on things, and I had to extricate myself out of that. And I felt my head a bit swirly when I walked away. I thought, oh, that is so interesting. I'm going to have to put on a protective shield around myself a little bit more, especially if I know if somebody is a different stance than myself. And, you know, some of that is because elections bring uncertainty. And guess what? Especially anxious brains don't like uncertainty. They crave stability and predictability.

It's really like trying to walk on a tightrope when the wind is blowing. You feel off balance and uneasy. But guess what? We can turn this tightrope walk into a stroll in the park. Why? By using our high functioning anxiety in that moment as a signal that it's time to take action. Much like how I took a breath, shields up, just like Wonder Woman, and I extricated myself out of there because there was no reason for me to engage in that moment.

But let's talk about some practical tips. How do you manage that? So let's talk about some practical tips. And these are just tools you can use right now that's going to ease that election season anxiety.

The first thing that I always go over with folks when they come in to see me in their little safe container with me is, frankly, I tell them. Limit your news intake. And I want you to think of this as eating spicy food. A little can be exciting and tastes good in in the moment, but too much leaves you with a bad case of heartburn, doesn't it? So, set specific times to check the news. Stick to it. Trust me, you're going to feel lighter. I definitely scroll on past in my social media. I am on social media just because of my marketing and staying in touch with folks, but I don't engage in it online too much regarding election.

I just don't. You're not going to see me engage too much. I might like something here and there, but I don't engage in it. What I do is I set aside to watch the news once a day, and I pick the network that I want to listen to that is more balanced on either side. I just really want to hear what's going on with the policy issues. Setting that boundary and that limitation is not going to overwhelm your brain. And this is for people that are affected by high functioning anxiety. This isn't just for folks that you know, this is their passion and all of that.

I'm really talking about helping folks who are triggered by this. And the second thing that I always talk about, you've heard me say this before, is practicing mindfulness. So when your mind starts to race about a topic, slow it down with mindfulness. Imagine your thoughts as a cloud drifting by. You don't have to chase them, just let them float them. Float on. Bye. Even taking five minutes. Five minutes can work wonders. Just take a moment and allow the thought, essentially, to float on by.

The third thing I always share with folks is, you know...Connect with others. Find your tribe, find your peeps. Talk to friends or family who share your concerns and are able to have a conversation that's not combative. It's really like having a safety net while walking that tightrope. You're not alone. And sometimes just sharing your worries can cut them in half, because then what you're doing is you're building up your resilience.

So when it comes time to talking about people, with people who have a different opinion than yours or a different stance than yours, your resilience and your shields are built up so you can actually engage in a conversation. But it's important to ground yourself in connecting with others that feel the same as you first.

And then I always say, you know, it sounds so simple. But staying active physical activity is like a magic potion and an antidote for anxiety. So when you're feeling it come on, take a brisk walk. Move your body. Dance around the living room. Whatever you got to do, just shake it off like Taylor Swift says, and get rid of that excess tension.

And then finally focus on what you can control. Honestly, elections make us all feel powerless, but there's always, always things within our own control. Maybe it's volunteering for something like a cause that you believe in. Maybe it's simply making sure that you're registered to vote. Taking action can be incredibly, incredibly empowering.

And finally, I kind of want to talk about a little bit of a personal antidote, encouragement, and share a little story with me. And I thought during the last election, I definitely was a ball of nerves. And I had to sort of help my brain stay in one circle while I was in another circle, helping clients through their own ball of nerves.

It really felt like I was carrying the weight of world for two, for two people at a time during sessions. And I finally had it to step back and make sure I rose above and  saw us both sitting in that room together, focusing on what I could control. And what I was finding was that by doing some of these simple things, like limiting the news, limiting intake onto the brain, basically practicing mindfulness, which is staying in the moment and reaching out to my friends and my own community, and it made a huge difference.

And one of the things that I always wanted to come back and share with folks is when I was growing up, voting and politics and all of these things, or the ways of the world was not really talked about. It was almost like people, they talked about it, but when it came time to voting, nobody talked about who they were voting for. In fact, you know, up until even this last election, you know, you went in and over here in Hawaii, they're based in the schools and the cafeterias, and they still have the little booths that you walk in with the little curtain that you pull in the back behind you and that you barely fit in, right? And you, and you fill out the thing with your pen or your pencil, and then they go and they electronically put it in a pamphlet and slide it in. Supposed to be this whole anonymous vote. And that's what I grew up with.

So I think I realized my brain has been trying to process my story of what politics means, which is, it's a personal preference, and it's okay that you have your personal preference. It's something that you're honored with, especially in America. But it doesn't seem that's the case anymore. It seems like everybody knows who you are voting for, and everybody has a say on who you vote for. And so I've had to recognize that this different time, so this second step in my RBA method is all about this developmental timeline that we're all on and recognizing what did you grow up with? What is your stance on how you got to wherever, personally, where you got to where you are in discussing politics in a certain way, in the way that our nation is doing right now. So I wanted to encourage you that it's okay when you're feeling anxious. It's just a time for you as an, just look at it as your alert system, that, number one, that you're taking care of yourself. You do not want it to spiral and get worse.

Being kind to yourself, give yourself permission to step back and just breathe. You can always come back. And, you know, I think the idea is when you're recognizing when it's time to do that, it's about befriending it. It's about recognizing when it's spiking and it's your anxiety is there to protect you. Listen to it and then act on it by using some of these tips that I've kind of talked about. So it's really about staying grounded and hopeful. And, you know, as we all go through this journey in the next few months, let's keep all these tools close at by. When you find your high functioning anxiety going through the roof, and remember that you have the strength and resilience to handle whatever comes your way. Stay grounded, stay hopeful, and most importantly, stay kind to yourself and please stay kind to others.

So thanks for tuning in today. If you found this episode helpful again, share it with someone who might need a little extra support. And don't forget to subscribe for more tips on a calm life with ease, even during tough times, even when we might not agree or be on the same page, we're all here, we all want the same things, and there's multiple ways to get there. Choose the best one for you and your community. And at this particular time, our nation is our community. Aloha. Okay, that's a wrap for this week.

The Anxiety Ease podcast is produced by myself and the music is provided by Pixabay. For more episodes or to get in touch anytime, you can visit my website, drlisahartwell.com. and if you do like the show, please leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps us out a lot. Also, if you want to see where you fall in the continuum of your high functioning anxiety, head on over to the link that's found in the show  notes www.hartwellanxietyassessment.com.