Facing Down Election Anxieties

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Online publications can get a lot of clicks and audience engagement by provoking readers enough to goad them into delving in and grappling with a subject. A recent Atlantic article, “Election Anxiety Is Telling You Something," evoked such a response from me. As an extremely anxious OCD sufferer living through the 2024 election season, the article’s suggestive title got me to click, and its contrarian content triggered me enough to react.

The article’s premise is that, contrary to much conventional wisdom about managing mental health in the modern era, we should perhaps not set aside our fear and anger about current events, but embrace these bothersome emotions and allow them to guide our actions. As the piece's author, Shayla Love, writes, “Allowing so much emotional interest to go unchecked might sound counterintuitive in 21st-century America, where cultural forces and psychological experts teach that emotions must be regulated for optimal well-being. But election anxiety highlights what emotions are for: to reveal what we care about, and what our moral values are.”

Love writes that "a big event should prompt big feelings.” This, however, may not be the most healthful reaction for those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

For some individuals, excessive election anxiety can be a very bad thing. Election-related stress and emotion might sometimes motivate proactive political engagement, but they can also spiral into neurosis, radicalization, addictive coping mechanisms, or depressive futility. People struggling to maintain their mental health during an historically tumultuous period might be better off focusing on managing their symptoms using proven strategies rather than immersing themselves in the source of their suffering.

For example, Love cites Thomas Szanto and his colleague Ruth Rebecca Tietjen who argue that “seeking out information” about politics can be “functional,” a valuable and healthy activity. But in today’s media environment, looking up information about current events online—especially when you’re selectively searching for content that validates maladaptive emotions—can lead to a toxic cycle of compulsive reassurance-seeking and catastrophizing, particularly for those who suffer from the obsessions and compulsions of OCD.

Some exposure can be a good thing. Exposure Response and Prevention Therapy (ERP) might be a better treatment for those who find significant exposure to political emotions severely stressful and perhaps harmful. ERP is a treatment in which a trained therapist gradually exposes a patient to triggering situations or obsessions in a safe environment. It’s difficult to imagine how, for an OCD sufferer or other severely anxious individual, independently immersing oneself in the high emotions or stressful activities of a political campaign during these unsettling times could be therapeutic without having the benefit of extensive personal ERP experience or the oversight of a trained professional.

Michelle Obama suggests that we all “Do Something,” to counter both inertia and heightened anxiety. For some experiencing severe election anxieties, rather than diving in head first, dipping a toe into the shallow end to face gradual exposure and reduce political emotions might be the more appropriate action during these stressful days.

To find a therapist, visit the Psychology Today Therapy Directory.