Disclaimer
All of the sources on this page are strictly for informational purposes and are not advice or recommendations. Always consult your doctor or licensed mental healthcare provider about needs related to your mental and emotional health. In the event of a crisis where you or someone else's life or health is at risk, call 9-1-1.
Elections & Mental Halth
Contextualizing Election Stress
The connections between mental health, information overload/overwhelm, 'doom scrolling', and elections have been of increasing psychiatric and psychological research since the election of 2016. Election cycles can be a particularly stressful time for many people, especially those for who can experience deeply personal and life-altering consequences of election outcomes. The resources linked below provide some initial reading about statistics, studies, and strategies for coping and managing difficult emotions related to news intake and the election cycle.
The 2024 Election Cycle's Impact on Mental Health & Relationships
A survey and report on the findings by Life Stance Health that found 79% of respondents said the upcoming presidential election has caused them anxiety this year.
The impact of election stress: Is political anxiety harming your health?
An article (updated October 2024) about the impact of election stress that stresses the importance of regulating exposure to political information and fostering positive social connections to avoid the adverse effects of political stress.
Practicing Self-Care During Elections Season
#Vote4MentalHealth (run by NAMI) guidance for elections season self-care: get news from nonpartisan sources, silence news notifications and apps, take screen breaks, do things that help you feel connected to your values, acknowledge your negative feelings, and show yourself compassion.
Mental Health America: Dealing with Emotional Overload
How to handle emotional overload: stress and emotion regulation, name your emotions, write about it, ground yourself, prioritize self-care, and seek help.
Mental Health During Global Conflict
Mental Health America article about mental health during global conflicts, emotional responses including grief, depression, anxiety, anger, and guilt, and other resources related to trauma and conflict.
The American Psychological Association reported in 2022 that media overload and "headline stress" hurts our mental health, and many studies since have confirmed this view. This article recommends a few "media guardrails" to help mitigate election and/or social media related news exposure:
- Turn off notifications
- Add scheduled tech-free periods to your day
- Limit social media checks to 15 minutes
- Set a no-screens policy for mealtimes for yourself
- Write down an anxiety-producing headline in longhand and slow down the quick processing and thought associations that lead to anxiety
- Be mindful of signs of overwhelm to the news (intrusive thoughts, increased substance use, persistent anger/anxiety/resentment)
- Do something intentionally relaxing after consuming the news
Greater Good Science Center published an article about eight questions that can help you survive election stress, with sub-questions and mindfulness guidance to assess and adopt better self-care and coping practices.
- What's happening in my body and mind today?
- If I'm feeling distress, what can I do to soothe myself?
- Am I getting enough good news?
- When do I feel good about the election?
- What am I grateful for today?
- How can I connect with other people?
- In light of this election, what are some new ways I can use my special skills or talents to make a difference in the broader world?
- What future would I like to see--and what steps am I taking today to make that future happen?
Support Tools
UConn Student Health and Wellness Immediate Support Resources
Find immediate support resources at the UConn Student Health and Wellness web page dedicated to mental health. You will find
24/7/365 confidential mental health support in the U.S. at 833-308-3040
All other international locations at 1-984-268-2016
24/7 advice nurse available during the academic year at 860-486-4700
24/7 free and confidential support by phone CALL OR TEXT 988
Staff & Faculty: Access the Red Folder to support students in distress.
UConn Library Wellness Collection
Welcome to the UConn Wellness Collection Guide! Let our easy guide help you navigate resources that help you be your best self! Resources for mental health and wellness are categorized by topics and are primarily available electronically, but we do have some physical titles in the collection. Recommendations from our partners, UConn SHaW (Student Health and Wellness) staff are accompanied by a statement to easily identify them. The resource tabs to your left (or above on a phone/tablet) are in alphabetical order by topic.
In addition to this library guide, which serves as a guide to wellness from a pedagogical perspective, we also feature a library catalog collection.
The Crisis Text Line has a web page dedicated to Election Anxiety, and has a Crisis Text Line support service specifically for and about election related mental health crises and emotional distress by texting ELECTION to 741741 to reach a live crisis counselor.
Headspace is an app dedicated to providing access to lifelong mental health support. They have created a "Politics Without Panic" election season survival guide. Start with an election stress persona, get recommended a meditation and grounding exercise. Headspace requires a free account to access some of their resources and tools. Always research before downloading or signing up for a new app to see how those platforms acquire and/or share your personal information.
The How We Feel Project is a nonprofit organization created by scientists, designers, engineers, and therapists to help everyone better understand their own emotions. It is a free journal designed for your well-being. Over time, you will learn precise words to describe how you feel, spot trends and patterns, and practice simple strategies to regulate your emotions in healthy ways.
14 No-Cost Radical Self-Care Tips
by Irene Greene MSED
Political Trauma Stress, Oppression Fatigue, Burnout & Compassion Fatigue Are All Real!
1. In your work, play and self-care, use your integrity as your guide. Value yourself with respectful self-talk, wiggle-room & compassion.
2. Slow down. Take deep slow breaths: three sets of three: 5 seconds on inhale & 7 seconds on exhale.
3. Check-in & greet your body. Rub your arms, legs, hands, forehead, base of your skull, shoulders. Take stretch breaks every 50 minutes.
4. Use your senses to orient yourself to your surroundings: hear, touch, taste, see, smell.
5. Note your body's physical needs. Do you need to: hydrate? eat? sleep? rest? stretch your body? pee? make alone time to "just be"? tend to life maintenance details? tend to relationships? say "yes" to yourself and "no" to others?
6. Connect with your kindreds for fun & solace. Don't isolate. Schedule regular check-ins.
7. Do you need to debrief? Need a safe physical way to release intense energy or anger? Or a space to cry? To grieve? To rant? Let it out. Let it go.
8. Take a break from social media... A meaningful break... Yes, put your phone away for a while.
9. Get real about what you have control & influence over & what you do not. Then problem-solve creatively.
10. Take physical & mental space away from your work, planning, organizing & volunteering.
11. Do something you enjoy or find pleasant... listen to music, doodle, run, write, chat with your neighbor.
12. Be in or imagine nature. Trees. Water. Sky. Animals. Birds.
13. Anxious, afraid, depressed? Stressed? Hopeless? Medicating unhealthily? Headaches? Tired? Stomach or sleep problems? Flashbacks? Admit when you need help. Get help. Get a referral or resource from a trusted ally.
14. Unabashedly remind yourself: "I am an amazing, worthy, important, unique & lovely human being."
More resources at: https://www.irenegreene.com/resources/
Post-Election
Post-Election Mental Health and Community Care
- Post-Election Empowerment PlanThis worksheet is designed to help you stay involved in the issues that are important to you as our civic duty does not stop at the ballot box and the impact of elections does not end once the outcome is certified. Adapted from Washburn University.
- Community Care Post-Election ToolkitThis post-election community care toolkit was built by and centers on the University of San Francisco's community, but offers advice and resources applicable to any community.
- Impacts of Elections on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)The RISE Center at UCLA built this guide for faculty, staff, and other professionals supporting BIPOC students during elections to educate about their distinct concerns and needs.
- Empathy: An Invaluable Natural Resource for PeaceA manual/guide by the organization Empathy for Peace framing empathy as a resource to help understand and move through conflict through an assessment of how power, trauma, and interpersonal harm shapes all parties.
- Protest Mental Health ToolkitA toolkit of resources related to news overload, protest safety, activism burnout, emotional regulation, and the physical impact of protest built by Tufts Counseling and Mental Health Service and adapted from other resources of note on page 10.
- Activist Trauma & RecoveryThis pamphlet, originally created by a now-defunct website dedicated to supporting activists who have experienced trauma, provides signs and support guidance for activists with trauma or PTSD.
- QTBIPOC Mental Health and Well-BeingMental health resources and support for LGBTQ+ people of color curated by the Human Rights Campaign.
- Mental Health Disparities and Fact Sheets for Diverse PopulationsThe American Psychiatric Association mental health fact sheets and resources for diverse populations across race, identity, sexuality, location, religious faith, citizenship status, and more.
