The Presidential election is just days away. Emotions are high and stress is even higher. As we’ve mentioned in our blog posting, Election Stress Support, election time can bring on higher levels of stress for many.
Something you can do right now, that is within your control, is to create your own Post-Election Self Care Plan to use after the election. Stress affects your whole body physically, emotionally, mentally, and socially. In your Post-Election Self-Care Plan you will come up with activities in each of these categories so you are getting whole body support.
Self-care is talked about frequently. People often think self-care is just bubble baths and long walks, or that it has to cost a lot of money, or take a lot of time. Practical self-care can take just one minute a day, cost nothing, and be enjoyable! True self-care is taking inventory of your own needs; just for you and doing something that will make you feel better. Self-care will look different for everyone, and might even look different for you depending on the day, or where you are.
Click here for the printable self-care plan worksheet that you can use along with the steps below.
Step One: Brainstorm Self-Care Ideas
Jot down some self-care practices that you would like to do, or things you have heard others might do. Some ideas: Get back to basics. Get enough sleep, eat healthy, exercise daily, get outside, listen to music, interact with people, play with pets, do things that are enjoyable to you, and limit the amount of news and social media you consume regarding the election.
Step Two: Stress Inventory
Take an inventory of where and how you are feeling stress.
Physically: tension headaches, tense muscles, heart racing, sweating, cannot sit still, upset stomach, intestinal issues, feeling tired
Emotionally: mood changes, irritability, sadness, crying, avoidance of emotions, easily becoming upset
Mentally: difficulty concentrating, thinking negatively, feeling mentally slow, feeling mentally foggy, hard time remembering things
Socially: avoiding friends and family, avoiding conversation/interaction with others, staying away from social situations, not answering calls, texts, or emails
Step Three: Combat Stress Symptoms
For each stress symptom you listed in step two, try to come up with at least one or two strategies to combat it. For example, perhaps you wrote tense muscles as a physical stress symptom. Two ways you can combat that symptom could be to get a massage or spend 5 minutes stretching.
Step Four: Commit
Now that you have some ideas of how to combat the stress you are feeling, put a plan in motion. Recognize that it is going to take dedication and commitment to see results. Work towards your plan daily, even if for only a few minutes each day. Schedule time if you have to. Share your plan with others to keep you accountable. Ask for support from loved ones so you have the time to implement your plan.
If you begin to implement your plan and continue to struggle, reach out to FamilyMeans and a clinician can help you through a plan. Clinicians can meet a few times (doesn’t have to be a long-term standing meeting) with you to come up with a plan or implementation strategies, even being your accountability person at first. Reach out today to make an appointment at 651-439-4840, or by clicking the button below.
Written by Erin Rowlson, LMFT
FamilyMeans Clinical Director