Coping with post-election feelings
Waking up to the news from the United States today had me feeling a lot of things.
By Lindsay Ryan, Registered Psychotherapist
Aside from whatever political affiliations you may have in Canada, the news out of the U.S. does have global implications. In the wake of this news, it would make sense if women, BIPOC, queer, and other equity seeking individuals were feeling some amount of emotional discomfort today. That discomfort could be stress, grief, anger, hopelessness, etc. If this is happening to you, know that you are not alone and that there are other people out there who are also feeling low, or feeling emotionally activated today.
And for all of you out there, you may be wondering what you can do.
In Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine, she talks about how when disasters happen, we look toward the authority figures around us to tell us what to do, to tell us how to feel. It’s a version of co-regulation where in a moment of distress when we are in a heightened stress response, we can’t always rely on our frontal lobe to help us to do the most rational thing. So, we look for guidance, we look for someone who knows what to do to help us. In Klein’s The Shock Doctrine written after the Hurricane Katrina disaster, she explains how this led to something called disaster capitalism where people were persuaded to buy certain things to stay safe, things like extra batteries, water or nonperishable foods. Consider what we experienced during those first weeks of COVID’s lockdown when there was a rush to purchase toilet paper. This tells us that when we look to an authority, we cannot always trust that they are doing what is in our best interests. Klein posits that disasters in fact make us more pliable to others’ will and that we will do things that are not in our own best interest.
For some, the news today may bring up the same kinds of feelings as a natural disaster might. For some, we may be looking around for someone to tell us what to do. But we need to also be careful of what that advice is and if it is coming from a reliable source or if it is in our own best interest.
In light of this, I will not tell you what to do, but I will tell you what I plan to do.
1. Let my feelings exist. They are uncomfortable. They are louder at some times and quieter at others. But I am going to give them space. This may mean lying in bed and eating my favourite things or going to the gym to work it out (probably a combination of these things and others). I am going to listen to what my body needs and how it wants to be taken care of. For my ADHDers/ Autistics consider stims like jumping on a trampoline, going to a park to use the swings, or a havening touch exercise.
2. Commiserate with like-minds. I know that there are many other people feeling the same way as me. I know that it can help to connect with friends or social contacts that may also be experiencing the same kinds of thoughts and feelings I am. Connecting with like minds can help me to tap into what Kristin Neff’s coins “common humanity” and the mutual experiences we have. This will help me feel less alone and it will help me to have compassion for some of the more negative thoughts or feelings that may be coming up.
3. Circle of control. Once I feel like I have emotionally regulated a bit and have allowed my feelings and thoughts their space and time, I will consider something called circle of control which is a therapeutic technique that asks us to consider what is within our ability to control. We can’t change larger socio-economic problems, but we can volunteer or donate to local riding associations or special interest groups.
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