How to Care for Your Mental Health While Caring About Politics
Balancing Yourself and Staying Informed
How y’all doing? I don’t know about you, but depending on the headline I just read I can feel:
Overwhelmed ✅
Helpless ✅
Anxious ✅
Angry ✅
I was originally going to write this blog to be as politically neutral as possible so anyone with any political stances can benefit from it….but F*ck it. I’m just going to write what I want. If you disagree with me politically, I still invite you to continue reading. I’m not going to try to change your political beliefs, but I encourage everyone to have a healthy balance of mental health and being politically informed. If you can read past my obvious political bias, I think there are nuggets of helpful information. No reason to gatekeep positive mental health practices.
Since the election in November 2024, politics have been a source of concern for clients that come in and sit on my couch. And I get it.
We are all stressed.
So what are we supposed to do?
Care for Yourself - This HAS to be first. You can’t do anything else if you are burnt out.
Care for Others - We have to lift each other up so we can all have the capacity to do what’s next.
Stay Informed - In a way that helps you, not holds you down.
Become Politically Active - When you are able, make a political stance in a way that works for you.
Care for Yourself
This may seem backwards when there is so much turmoil going on. But you must take care of yourself (and your family) first. You will not have the mental capacity to keep up if you are not mentally healthy.
I’m sure you’ve heard of a gazillian ways to ensure good mental health. But here are my first go-to questions to myself and my clients:
Are you getting enough sleep?
Are you eating enough?
Are you staying hydrated?
Are you moving your body enough?
We have to keep up with our physical health to stay mentally healthy. Our bodies and our minds are connected. If we neglect one, we’re neglecting the other.
If you find yourself doom scrolling and staying up past your bedtime. Let’s stop that. Find something else to do before bed. Read a book, try some sort of craft, watch a light-hearted TV show, journal, etc. There are so many ways to wind down our brains at night that do not include our phones.
Some people have the automatic response to stop eating when they are stressed. But please eat. Our brains and our bodies need that fuel. Even a granola bar is better than nothing.
We need to stay hydrated to stay focused and energized. Make sure you are not consuming too much caffeinated or alcoholic beverages during the day. Straight up water keeps the body and mind going!
Movement is great to reduce stress. I’m not talking about starting to train for a marathon or join a gym. Turn on some music and dance in your bedroom. Yoga with Adriene is a great resource for starting yoga (and free on Youtube!). Go for a walk around the neighborhood with your kids or dog. Any movement of your body that you enjoy is what matters!
Beyond making sure our bodies are well cared for, we also want to make sure we have time to rest. Finding rest - anything that gives our minds a break - is going to be essential to carry on in this political climate. I encourage you to think of times your mind feels at ease. Maybe it’s spending time with a particular person or group of people. Maybe it’s a particular hobby you have. Or a favorite place to be. Use that information to come up with a list of things you can do for rest. Some ideas:
Walk with a friend
Have lunch at your favorite park
Watch your favorite movie
Dinner with your group of friends
Cuddling up with your pet and reading
Journaling
Planning a trip (even a dream one!)
Cooking comfort food
Mindfulness or meditation (I recommend the Insight Timer app)
If you want more guidance on taking care of yourself, check out the blog How to Make a Mental Health First Aid Kit.
If you are having a difficult time figuring out how to care for yourself, I would recommend reaching out to a therapist near you. Therapists are great resources for self-care. In the Cincinnati, Ohio area? Check us out and see if we have any openings!
Care for Others
(Yes, even those you don’t politically agree with)
Let’s start with the easy part of caring for others. Be nice to your family and friends. Support them in ways they need and you are able to provide. Some ideas:
Call and chat
Invite them to dinner
Send a funny meme
Go old school and send a hand-written note
Go for a walk with someone
None of these are extravagant ways of caring for others. But if we show love to one another, that fuels everyone to be able to care for themselves and for others…paying it forward.
Moving outside of our personal orbits, we can continue to be kind to one another. A simple smile to a stranger gives that person a little boost of happiness. Compliment a stranger on their cool earrings. Hold the door open for someone. Again these are not extravagant, but little acts of kindness to strangers can boost your mood and the other person’s mood as well.
If you have the capacity to do more than these little acts of kindness, step it up a notch. Find ways to donate your time, your skills, your money.
If you have the time to volunteer, we need you now. Ask around to see where the need is in your community. Your volunteer time does not need to be tied to something political, unless you want it to be! Some ideas:
Local homeless shelter
Food pantry
Habitat for Humanity
Food Rescue (take unsold groceries to shelters and pantries)
Think about your strengths and skills and how those might be helpful to an organization in need.
Canva wizard? I bet someone could use help making social media images.
Photographer? Get out there and get some good photographs they can use for their website! Or take personal portraits for people who cannot afford family photos.
Great at organizing household items? Offer up your services in a Facebook group for local moms, especially to families with limited time/resources.
Like spending time with other people’s children? Offer to babysit for free to someone in your community.
Get creative - this is just a list to get that brainstorming going!
I have a feeling money is going to get tight for many people. IF you have the money to give, think about how you want to donate money. Some people like to donate to specific families/individuals in need. GoFundMe is a trusted way to give directly to others. I also love giving to One Simple Wish (OSW). OSW lets you give money to a particular need/want of a person. Some examples of things you can help buy: school uniforms for sisters in foster care, a Lego set for a young man wanting to celebrate his birthday, and a new bookbag so a student can safely carry her school laptop to/from school. If you prefer your money to go to organizations that disperse money as needed, I would recommend checking out Charity Navigator. It’s a great way to narrow down what kind of organization you’d like to give money to and if the organization is world-wide, country-based, or local.
Being Kind to Those You Know Who Differ in Political Opinion
If our nation has any chance of (mostly) uniting again in the future, we must be kind to one another regardless of political opinions.
I do not recommend having political conversations unless both parties can have a discussion without getting defensive. Maybe you can start a political conversation, but if you are feeling defensive and/or you perceive the other person is - shut it down. Your opinion is not going to change and neither is the other person’s.
But Jenny, I want to change their opinion! I want them to see that what they believe is wrong!
Me too.
But let’s practice some empathy…How do you feel when someone tells you that a core belief you have is wrong?
I don’t know about you, but when people make me feel insignificant, dumb, evil, disrespectful, etc. for my political opinions and the way I voted - I don’t want to listen to them. When I feel threatened, my mind/body automatically has an anxiety response - fight/flight/freeze.
This is normal. When we feel like we have to be defensive - even if it is to defend beliefs - our bodies and minds protect us. Our energy leaves our outer lobe/critical thinking brain to our inner lobe/protecting brain. No logical discussion can come when one or two people are talking defensively because their frontal lobe (where logical thinking occurs) is not firing on all cylinders.
You are not going to change the opinion of your next door neighbor, your friend, the stranger on the internet, or your own family member by putting them on the defensive. They will go into fight/flight/freeze. They will dig deeper into their belief system. Just like you would if the tables were turned.
If we want to have a more unified, empathetic, caring world, we have to show those qualities to everyone. Not just the people we agree with.
One way to think about it is imagining these family members, coworkers, etc. that you disagree with as someone from another country/culture (in a way they are - but that’s entirely different conversation). For an example, let’s say you fit the descriptor of WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) and you meet a new coworker that is from India. For the sake of the example we are going with stereotypes so the coworker is Hindu. I would imagine you would ask kind but curious questions like what it was like growing up in India. What his religious beliefs are. How his culture is different from American culture. What he likes about his culture. What he disagrees with.
We can do the same type of kind and curious questioning of those that differ us politically:
What is your political stance in general?
How did you come to those beliefs?
Any particular life experiences that align with your political beliefs?
Who has influenced your political beliefs?
What do you like about your political party?
What do you not like about your political party?
If we are rude, demeaning, belittling, accusatory to those of an opposing political opinion, we are no better than the stereotype we have of the opposing side. Democrats pride themselves in treating (at least ideally) all people equally regardless of gender, race, sexuality, religion, etc.
Let’s practice what we preach. Being kind to everyone. Kill them with kindness. If we are kind - even while disagreeing - there is less for them to get defensive about.
Kindness is more likely to change another person’s perspective. Attack is more likely to keep that other person from changing.
If you want more about how to have a conversation with someone you disagree with politically, I recommend you take a look at University of Texas at Austin Center for Media Engagement’s suggestions.
Stay Informed
While protecting your mental health - it can be done!
This one is hard to do while also caring for yourself. But it is possible.
Here is what I DO NOT recommend:
Scrolling social media after a major news event. Get off TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, etc. I have another blog with ideas on how to limit social media.
Reading all the news everyday. It is overwhelming.
Reading the news throughout the day. Once a day is fine. Generations of humans survived and were politically active without the internet/TV/radio. You can check the news once a day. I promise.
Having any sort of news alerts. Again - I promise you will not miss anything catastrophic if you do not have news alerts. You will find out when you need to find out.
So what can I do to stay informed without losing my sanity?
First - be mindful.
When you do consume news, notice how you feel emotionally and physically. If you are having anxious thoughts, your neck muscles are getting tight, you’re having racing thoughts, you feel depressed, your stomach is nauseous, etc. stop reading. Then think about why you are having this reaction. Is it the “spin” of the article? Are there distressing videos/images? Is this the tenth article about the same thing and you’re feeling hopeless? Really take your time to think about this, because it’s important. Then do something actionable to decrease that feeling the next time you read the news.
I can’t possibly imagine every scenario for why you might have uncomfortable feelings. But here’s an example. Let’s say you’re reading an article and you notice your shoulders are tense and you’re feeling anxious. Stop reading. Then think, “why do I feel like this?”
You realize that the article is giving facts, but also hypothesizing what might happen next and it is all doom. This is not helpful to you. Next time, try to find a news source that only reports facts without theorizing what might happen next. We cannot predict the future and neither can journalists.
Be a smart consumer of news.
While reading mindfully, also think if the article and/or news source is reliable. Some news sources want to make you have strong feelings so you stay on their webpage, watch their cable channel so they can make money. If you can read/watch someone and mostly feel neutral, trust your gut feeling.
This infographic is a great starting point for reliable news sources. Ideally we get news from a source that is in the middle and top of the graph - that means it is factual without opinion/persuasion mixed into the reporting.
If you see that one or more of your news sources is too far to the left or right, please seek out something towards the middle. You are getting skewed news. If your regular news source is lower on the graph, please look into a news source higher up. You are getting too many opinions, and not enough facts.
Another thought to notice is if your news source is reporting something that is actually happening or happened or it’s a possibility that something could happen. If the article is theorizing that something might happen in the future - you are contributing to your own anxiety. It hasn’t happened yet. And unless you work in a specific government capacity, it does you no good to worry about what “might” happen. You can take action when something does actually happen (more on that later).
Since 2020, I have tried to find news sources that do not contribute to my naturally anxious state. Here are the news sources I like:
This is a daily (M-F) email or text news source. It is free to try for a week, then $8 per month. I personally see the benefit of paying the subscription.
The New Paper sends links to about 10 articles about the top headlines with a brief summary. They link to reliable news sources that are in the top middle of the picture above!
I love The New Paper, because I can stay informed and read headlines. And if I am interested in reading more, there is an easy link to a reliable news source right there with more info.
The Week is a weekly news magazine.
Pros: It gives news from different perspectives. Several articles summarize what “the left” wrote and what “the right” thinks.
Cons: It’s not immediate news because it’s a printed magazine. But I still think the different perspectives on issues is worth it.
Tip: If you live in Cincinnati and have a library card, the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library has digital copies you can subscribe to ::for free:: through the Libby app.
And now some left leaning sources that also help my sanity:
Sharon is a former civics teacher and markets herself as “America’s Government Teacher.” When I first started following her on Instagram (Sharonsaysso) I thought maybe she leaned right in the political realm. But not so much anymore. She does her best to state facts and give hope. One of her taglines is “Principle Over Party.” She does not outright share her political stance or how she votes, but I do believe she does not firmly affiliate with either party. She wants what is best for our country and the Constitution.
I would recommend following her on Instagram, and subscribing to her Substack Newsletter. Her newsletter is not just current events, but also historical stories to give current events context. Sometimes she profiles politicians or Supreme Court Judges.
Heather Cox Richardson (HCR)
HCR is someone new in my arsenal of news sources. She is an American History scholar and publishes a daily newsletter via Substack. Her newsletter is factual with sources linked at the bottom. She is also active on Facebook and does some Q and A’s there. Her newsletters are long and dense, but full of information.
And for those like a little profanity thrown in with your news….
TFN is another Substack newsletter I subscribe to written by Jonathan Larsen. Larsen has a less profane Substack but that is not nearly as entertaining. TFN does give facts…but tongue in cheek. It makes the doom and gloom slightly more digestible while I’m digesting my breakfast. There is also usually a profanity filled pep talk which is fuckin’ nice.
Become Politically Active
You’re taking care of yourself ✅
You’re taking care of others ✅
You’re staying informed while staying sane ✅
Now you’re ready to take some political action.
Please note that there will be times that political activism seems overwhelming, impossible, hopeless. But guess what? Not everyone feels that at the same time. That’s why we need to take care of others, so they have the energy to be politically active when we do not.
There are so many ways to make political action that range from passive to active. I will not be able to cover all of the ways, but please use these ideas to find what matters to you and how to make a difference.
Before you start becoming politically active, it might be helpful to prioritize what issues matter to you.
But Jenny, they are allllll important.
I agree.
But not everyone can do everything. Figure out what you are most passionate about and focus on that. I promise that if you choose to focus on environmental issues and ignore the rest, someone else out there is passionate about gun reform and ignoring environmental issues. You are both getting the good work done!
Maybe you’re willing to contact your representatives about multiple issues, but you’re most passionate about the education system. So you are going to focus most of your energy on school board meetings, contacting your local and state reps about education reform.
Please do not compare yourself to others and how much they participate in politics. We are all doing the best we can with our given time and resources. Also, we shouldn’t judge others for not being politically active. Maybe they want to be, but they need to care for themselves and their family first.
When you are ready to get involved, start small. We do not want to burn out.
An easy-ish way to get active is to contact your government representatives.
I am a card-carrying introvert. The first time I called I was so nervous. But I had a script I followed and I only fumbled over a few words. I still make calls on a semi-regular basis and it’s gotten easier. But admittedly, I still get a bit nervous and I still need a script each time.
If you’re interested in this approach, I highly recommend the (new to me!) app 5 Calls. It’s free! You create a profile, which must include your address so they give you the correct congress representatives to call. Then you choose a topic you are wanting to call about, they give you information about that topic, then they give you a script to follow (hallelujah), and then the phone numbers to tap on your phone and call. You can mark if you left a voicemail, made contact, or if the congress person was unavailable.
I used 5 Calls this morning and it was so easy! I left two voicemails and one did not have room on his voicemail for me to leave one. So….on to the next option for advocacy….
Write an email/send a message!
For you introverts out there - this one is for you! Throughout the last few years, I have found that most congress people do not have their direct email addresses listed on their website. Instead, you need to submit a contact form through their website.
When I sent a message to my second senator (who’s voicemail was full), I used the script from 5 Calls to help me compose the email. SO EASY. So even if you do not intend to call your representatives, 5 Calls might still be worth a download to give you a starting point for a message.
If you plan to send regular messages to your congress reps, I highly recommend bookmarking the webpages with their contact forms. We want to make our lives as easy as possible in the future as we stay politically active.
If you need help finding your reps contact information, Congress’ website has an easy to use search. Just type in your address and voila! Your three reps will pop up.
If you live in Ohio, I’m going to make it even easier for you and give you our two senators’ information. You’ll still need to find your House of Representatives congressperson.
Some things I’ve learned over the years for making calls and sending messages:
If you talk to a live person, they are likely college-aged interns. Please be nice to them. Their job is to collect data. They will ask your name and your address to make sure you are a constituent. Then they will ask what you are calling about. They are marking down the issue you are calling about and your stance on it. They are are not going to be conversational. If you leave a voicemail, you are likely not going to get a call back.
When sending emails/messages, sometimes I have gotten a generalized response from the rep in regards to their stance on the issue and why they do/do not agree with my opinion. I’ve never received a personal message in response. And that’s okay!
Contacting reps once about an issue is enough!
When contacting by phone or message, make each contact about one issue at a time. Don’t call and leave a message about your stance on education AND gun control AND medical care AND…. just one issue. Hang up. Call again about the next issue.
Activism Beyond Contacting Your Rep
I’ll be honest: I don’t have much experience beyond calls and emails. But there are many more ways to be politically active.
Reach out to your political party’s local chapter. For Democrats in the Cincinnati area, check out the Hamilton County Democratic Party website.
If education is an important issue for you, start attending your public school board meetings. You do not need to have a child in the school to go to meetings.
Find a local nonprofit to get involved with.
If gun reform is important to you, Moms Demand Action might be a good place to start.
The Cincinnati chapter for the League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan group (!) that encourages politcal engagement.
During campaign seasons, volunteer for a candidate that you’re passionate about.
For you brave extroverts out there that get energy from being with others, attend a rally or protest.
Get a group of friends together for a letter-writing party. Identify the issue(s) you and your friends care about, and write postcards/letters/emails/etc. to your politicians at every level: local, state, and federal.
Get creative. Find what you are passionate about and use that passion to make a difference.
A metaphor to consider:
Think of political change as chipping away at a mountain. The mountain is enormous. One person with one pickaxe is not going to take that mountain down. But many people with many pickaxes certainly can. But it will still take time.
There will be times you have the energy to use that pickaxe of yours and take down a chunk of that mountain. Other times you’ll only have energy for one swing of the pickaxe and a little pebble breaks off. There will be other times you can’t help at all because you’re sick, your child needs extra attention for a season, your work requires more travel this month, etc. But know that others are still working on the mountain in your absence. When you are ready to get back to the mountain, your work and effort will be appreciated.
As you get more politically active, please do not be hard on yourself. There will be days you are able to channel that anxious/angry energy into positive activism. There will be other days/weeks/months that it’s too much. Go back to caring for yourself in those times. When you are cared for, care for the people around you. And when you’re ready there will be more opportunity to be politically active in the future. Grab that pickaxe and start swinging.
