Election & Sociopolitical Stress
We're in an election season! There is so much going on in the world. This resource is a starter toolkit for navigating sociopolitical stress as we move through it together.
What is sociopolitical stress?
Intense feelings & experiences people have that stem from awareness of, exposure to, and/or involvement in, political events and phenomena (Ballard et al 2022)
Why take care?
Research shows that sociopolitical stress can have a significant impact on college students’ mental health.
- 52% of students polled say engaging in political dialogue on campus affects their mental health (TimelyCare report, July 2024)
- Sociopolitical stress is linked to increased anxiety, hopelessness, depression, and social withdrawal. (Soto, et al, still under review)
- Folks holding systemically oppressed identities across gender, sexual orientation, and gender report higher levels of sociopolitical stress—with female-identifying students of color experiencing this to a higher degree. (Ballard, et al., October 28, 2020).
There’s a lot we can do to take care in the face of uncertainty—make sure you incorporate some active care practice to maximize a sense of agency, community, and care.
Here's a few practices to start:
Acknowledge your feelings
- Stress impacts us all differently. Whether you’re feeling frustrated, grief, etc. remember it’s ok to feel how you feel, and not judge others for how they are processing
- Journal about your feelings
- Somatic practices to work with difficult feelings:
- Anger:
- Anger:
- Trauma and stress release:
- Anxiety:
- Emotion freedom technique:
Take care of your body
- Practice good sleep hygiene (7-8 hours a night, limit phone time before bed)
- Eat regular, nourishing meals
- Move your body! Stress is often held in the body. Intentional movement can help create an outlet
- Take breaks from the go-go-go
Connect with others
- Spend time with folks that care about you
- Identify people, places, and resources that you can reach out to for support when needed
- Communicate how you’re feeling and what support can look like in community
Connect with nature
Use your sense of purpose
- Use values and purpose to guide action (check out list of values)
- Know where you’re coming from and what you’re aiming to accomplish
- Guide with your values and ground in your capacity
(Re)connect with your source of power
- Reflect on various aspects of your power and lack there of (e.g., physical, psychological, emotional, relational, environmental, sociopolitical, spiritual)
- Acknowledge areas of limitation and restriction
- Re-affirm aspects/sources of your power
Engage in effective change
- Political action & involvement
- Problem solving – incremental, short term, locally based
Participate in self-care and collective care
- Make sure you’re taking care of basics—eating regular meals, getting enough sleep/rest, and make sure you’re moving your body
- Make space to spend time with friends & loved ones
- Get connected to community off campus
- Tap into campus resources that are here to support you! Check out the Wellness at Â鶹´«Ã½ page for resources of support across various areas of wellbeing (e.g. physical, social, vocational, environmental, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and financial)
Make a self-care plan for Election Day
- Expect the need for more self-care on Election Day
- Proactively plan for how you will consume news, who you will spend time with, and what boundary-setting may be needed
- Take breaks from screen time and social media
- To help cope with the uncertainty and associated stress of Election Day,
- Identify simple actions that are within your control and schedule them throughout your day (e.g., take a walk with a friend, read for leisure, engage in a favorite hobby like knitting, listen to a non-political podcast, prepare a snack or meal you enjoy)
- Check out the JED Foundations ""