Have you had trouble sleeping over the election? Worried you were about to be run off the road because your bumper sticker had sent someone else into a fever pitch of nastiness? Or found yourself on Facebook, steam coming out of your ears as you indignantly give what-for to that misogynist, racist creep who maybe went to high school (in another state) with someone that you met once and friended?
You are not alone. You are so far from being alone. The heinous, horrible debates are over and the gavel will come down in the case of Hillary Clinton v. Donald Trump on Nov. 8. But in the meantime, what about our collective blood pressure? This can’t be good for anyone, on either side of the political fence.
Fifty-two percent of American adults reported that the election is a very significant or somewhat significant source of stress, according to a survey by the American Psychological Association released earlier this month.
Mental health professionals themselves report being disturbed, both for their patients and for themselves, by the way the presidential race has unfolded. William Doherty, a professor at the University of Minnesota and a licensed marriage and family therapist, started a manifesto in opposition to “Trumpism” (first bullet point: Trumpism “is antithetical to everything we stand for as therapists”). Over 3,000 therapists have signed it already.
Portland’s Gail Clinton, a trained psychiatrist who uses talk therapy in her practice, is one of the 10 or so Maine medical professionals who put their name to Doherty’s manifesto. Clinton (no relation to the candidate) said that in her practice, she started noticing election-related tension in her patients about six months ago.
“But it has really accelerated in the last weeks and certainly months,” Clinton said. “Even in the last week it has accelerated.” Although the APA survey found men and women to be almost equally stressed about the election, in Clinton’s practice, she said “definitely more women that I work with are upset.”
Elise Magnuson, a Portland psychologist and president of the Maine Psychological Association, agreed. Trump’s taped, gleeful boasts of sexually predatory behavior have alarmed many women and brought back deeply stressful memories of being groped, grabbed and treated as prey.
“I do think that this is very relevant for a lot of women,” Magnuson said. “Between 1 in 4 and 1 in 5 will report receiving unwanted sexual attention by the time they reach adulthood.”
How do they cope? How should they cope?
“APA recommends remembering that the presidency is only one of the three executive branches of the government,” Magnuson said. “Other things that do commonly help is time outside, particularly in our gorgeous Maine fall. Time with friends. Journaling. Meditation. Exercise. It cures everything.”
IN THEIR DREAMS
Sharon Bearor is trying to chill, but it’s hard. She’s a registered nurse, which in theory might make the Portland resident better equipped to deal with the stressors of the 2016 presidential election. For her personally, these include three separate negative encounters on the road because of a pro-Hillary Clinton magnet on her car, including being berated by two men in a car. “I was kind of listening to music and enjoying my little space,” she said. “I started crying.”
During the debates she let the rage at Trump flow, standing right up next to the television, swearing and tweeting freely, even though, she says, she’s not an angry person by nature. “I’m peace, love, Rolling Stones and Joni Mitchell,” she said. “But this guy? He makes my skin crawl.”
Duncan Newcomer, one of the signatories to the anti-Trump manifesto, is a psychotherapist and minister in Belfast.
“I think Trump has disturbed people in a really profound way by his violence and his anger and his irrationality,” Newcomer said. Among those he counsels, “people are pretty agitated. As am I.”
He has even had dreams about Trump. And for him, those would be nightmares.
Stress levels are undoubtedly high on both sides, although it proved harder to get Republicans to admit to it on the record than Democrats. When Press Herald reporters interviewed Trump supporters at his recent rally in Bangor, they spoke of being afraid of increased terrorism, should their candidate not be elected. Some supporters, like Gov. Paul LePage, picked up on Trump’s completely unsubstantiated claim that were he to lose, it would be because the election was rigged. Which of course, would send voters into a panic.
Not Adam Ratterree, who is chairing the Waldo County residents for Trump. He said he has observed some tension from others, but he is fine. Given how badly Trump is flagging in the polls, particularly after recent news items about his sexually predatory behavior, is he prepared for a Clinton presidency?
“I really don’t want to see that,” Ratterree said, serenely. “As far as my calm demeanor about it, what is going to happen is going to happen.”
DITCH FACEBOOK
Although the survey found that it didn’t matter whether respondents were Democrats or Republicans, the APA did conclude that those who use social media are more likely than those who do not to be experiencing stress (54 versus 45 percent, respectively). Sandy Johnson, a Realtor in Portland, reports that her stress level has gone down since she ditched Facebook a few months ago for political reasons.
“I was overcome with revulsion at some of the stuff I was reading,” she said. “I was off the charts. I was so angry and upset about everything.”
Of her Facebook decision she says, “It was liberating, let me tell you.”
Exercise, as psychologist Magnuson noted, is a definite balm.
“I do find working out helps some,” said David Rogers Treadwell, who regularly submits opinion pieces to the Times Record in Brunswick. He’s tried to keep his political passions from taking over his columns, but so much for what the American Psychological Association says: He’s unabashed about his liberal angst on social media. “I get out my stress by posting on Facebook,” he said. “That helps. I don’t hold back.”
Then there’s acupuncture. Beth Herzig, a licensed acupuncturist at Rocky Coast Acupuncture in South Portland, said the election “is coming up in conversation with almost everyone. People are really down about it.” There are specific treatments, including the “five-point protocol” that are “wonderful for calming the nervous system,” in general, Herzig said, although there is no specific pressure point that releases the pent-up fears of either liberals or conservatives, Democrats or Republicans.
In the case of this particular election, it might help to be siding with neither. Matt Roy, a lifelong Republican who is running in Lewiston for an open seat in the Maine House of Representatives, is voting for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. Both Trump and Clinton “scare me,” he said, and he knows Johnson doesn’t stand a chance of winning. (Well, he’s got hopes for Utah.) Maybe that’s why Roy is more Zen about this election than others.
“I’m sure deep down, we all have our anxieties about the future,” he said. “But everyone has anxieties about the future.”
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