"How Are Americans Coping With Election Anxiety?
Survey respondents who reported experiencing negative mental health impacts due to the election were asked how they’ve tried to cope with associated negative emotions. The most common responses included the following:
Avoiding the news: 44%
Talking with friends and/or family: 35%
Avoiding social media: 29%
Exercising more: 21%
Avoiding family/friends with differing views: 21%
Emotional eating: 14%
Drinking more alcohol or using substances: 9%
Talking with a therapist: 9%
Gen Z had the highest percentage of people (23%) to cite emotionally eating as a coping mechanism. This age group also had the highest percentage of respondents who experienced increased alcohol consumption or substance use (15%), followed by millennials (11%).
“If anxiety is making it hard for you to function in your day-to-day activities or you notice that you are experiencing significant distress from the anxiety and it’s turning into other types of concerns (like depression or tendency to use escapist coping like drinking too much alcohol or misusing substances to cope), then seek the help of a mental health professional who can help,” says Judy Ho, Ph.D., a triple board certified and licensed clinical and forensic neuropsychologist and Forbes Health Advisory Board member based in Manhattan Beach, California."
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