Politics and Mental Health

In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to steer clear of talking politics. Political conversations have dominated my college classes, outings with friends, and family dinners.

I was never one to bring up politics – in fact I used to find it extremely dull. I would zone out if the news was on and avoid engaging in discussions about it. It’s pretty ironic now that I’m graduating with a major in sociology which often requires a political perspective when examining institutions, social structures, and power.

As sociology majors we are constantly learning about social problems and inequalities. As a result, we have been stereotyped as the students who are most likely to be depressed.

While hyperbolic, that stereotype rings true to some extent, at least for me. It can be both overwhelming and infuriating to learn about the many social issues that have yet to be fixed or adequately addressed.

I think many people can relate to those feelings today given our current political climate.

Now with social media, politically induced stress and anxiety is hard to escape from.

A couple of days before the 2020 election I was looking through Instagram when I came across a friend’s story.

They posted a compilation of pro-Trump content. The first post was a screenshot of a long paragraph outlining why those who voted for Biden need to own up to that mistake for the next four years.

“Don’t complain when you lose your job because 15 million illegal immigrants suddenly become legal and your employer decides to hire someone at a lower wage,” it says. It goes on to say don’t complain when taxes go up, when you lose your job, when your safe communities are overrun by crime, etc.

As I continued to read this post, I arrived at a sentence that my friend had underlined: “You obviously didn’t vote your paycheck or your future. You voted your feelings.”

I paused for a moment because I couldn’t tell if my friend had shared this nonsense to critique it or because they actually agreed with it.

What followed that post confirmed the latter. They reposted a video of a man burning around 80 Donald Trump ballots. It only took me a couple google searches to confirm that this viral video, originally shared by Eric Trump, was fake.

Seeing misinformation being spread on social media is frustrating but even more so when it comes from people you know.

Over the past few years I have removed people from my social media who outwardly supported Trump and his policies. Many were people I knew years ago from high school and others were friends of friends.

I did this without hesitation. Why should I continue to follow people who post content that directly goes against my own morals and values?

But when I came across my friend’s Instagram story and some of my extended family’s pro-Trump Facebook posts, I questioned my way of thinking. Should I really remove them just because I don’t agree with their views? Is it immature of me to only want to be exposed to perspectives that align with my own?

I brought these questions to one of my classes during a discussion about politics and social media. My classmates shared similar stories about having friends and family who support Trump and regularly spread misinformation and hate across their social media platforms. Many of them said that seeing those posts negatively impacted their mental health.

It became clear to me that it’s one thing to be exposed to differing political opinions and another to be exposed to racist, sexist, and homophobic rhetoric. When social media begins to interfere with your mental health, it’s time to take a step back and ask yourself which one of those the person you're following is expressing.

If you’re seeing racism and hate speech, and it’s affecting your mental health, it’s probably time to hit that unfollow button, or at least the mute button to stop that content from showing on your feed. If you’re seeing different political views then it might be a good idea to keep some perspectives around other than ones that reflect your own.

An article from TeenVogue about talking to friends with different political beliefs offers some valuable insights. The main takeaway for me is that people have their reasons for voting the way they do, and a vote does not always mean that your friend holds all of the same values as that candidate.

Allowing yourself to be exposed to different views and having open discussions about politics is the only way that our country could ever make progress. If we were to shut out everyone who disagrees with us, there would never be any room for compromise or growth.

Nevertheless, your mental health should be a top priority. There is no doubt that politics can affect our overall well-being, so it’s important to recognize when it is and to find ways to ameliorate that stress.

The American Psychological Association offers several tips that people can use for politically induced stress. Here are my personal favorites:

• Reduce your media consumption. Take a break from watching the news, scrolling through social media, and talking politics every so often.

• Reflect on “three good things” that happened at the end of the day, large or small. I do something similar with my boyfriend where we both share our “highs” and “lows” of the day. It definitely helps us relieve some anxiety and think of ways we can improve tomorrow.

• Practice self-care throughout the day. Whenever I’m feeling stressed I like to clear my head by going for a walk, checking on my houseplants, sitting in the sun, or doing some breathing exercises.

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Stay well and see you next week!