Still feeling helpless and hopeless over election results?

More than 300 million Americans were invested in the 2024 presidential election results. From billionaires to your next door neighbor, it seemed that everyone tightly held on to their beliefs, sometimes speaking peacefully and other times shouting angrily. Even before voting started, Americans were anxious, stressed, frustrated and overcome with fear and worry.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), political concerns negatively affect mental and physical health. In fact, political stress topped APA’s 2024 Stress in America survey.

Now that the results of the presidential election are confirmed, are you feeling helpless and hopeless because your candidate did not win? Instead of allowing your emotions to take charge, don’t give into them. Take charge of your feelings and your actions. I don’t mean pushing a “like” button on a social media post or writing strong anti-Trump messages on Instagram. Do something constructive that can make a difference.

If you continue to read and listen to anti-Trump messages, it not only will fuel your anger and worry, but it also will begin to consume your life. These feelings will get you nowhere. Accept reality. Try to calm down. Remember: you are not helpless. You can affect change positively.

I want to be clear: if your friend, colleague or relative did not vote the same way you did, telling them, “You no longer are welcome at my dinner table,” only deepens our divisiveness and immobilizes any hope for compromise, progress and unity. This action is not affecting positive change.

As a mental health therapist, how we tackle this anger, frustration and feelings of hopelessness and helplessness is critical. They cannot and should not consume and control your life. Turn off your computer. Take conversations offline. They tend to get heated and more intense online. Turn off your TV. Reduce your media consumption. Get out of the house. Get out of your own head. Volunteer for an organization that validates your beliefs. Surround yourself with “allies,” individuals who support your beliefs and will work collaboratively and peacefully for change. Decades ago, most states did not recognize gay marriages, but I, along with a united front of thousands, pushed and pushed to make these marriages legal; we didn’t give up.

There is hope at the end of the election tunnel! Studies show we are resilient in the face of election stress; anger, anxiety, depression, and feelings of hopelessness tend to fade.

Try to let go of negative thoughts and feelings and create a life that allows you to live in this country peacefully and nonviolently. Work to find compromise and unity, not divisiveness. Staying divided means hate wins.

We will get through this if we are united, if we stick together and if we do not allow the angry and violent mob culture to overtake us. It’s time to return to sanity and sensibility by acting constructively for change. Political triggers should not impair our wellbeing; instead, they should motivate us to get involved in causes that we value.

Here is a TikTok message I posted on the subject:
https://www.tiktok.com/@drjoekort/video/7434189084328856874