Coping with Depression (Post-Presidential Elections)

Earlier in the month of November, we as the United States ended a long election cycle that takes place every four years. As I was proud to finally get to exercise my right to vote, I was in disbelief by the results of the presidential election. The actually disbelief I had was not any surprise. I figured that since Donald Trump made it so far in the election, people are actually supporting this man to be our next president. I knew right after the results of the election that this was something we (as everyone who did not want Trump in office) would have to cope with. Right after the results, social media and news media outlets have been teeming with election-related articles, memes, videos, pictures, and posts with overwhelmingly negative messages. The following day, just from seeing how depressed people were, I knew that I needed to provide some coping strategies to deal with this depression.

As I thought about it before, it usually takes time for legislation to change. It doesn’t matter what party or political views you may share with the winning presidential candidate and other newly elected government officials, you have time to adjust to the upcoming changes that will be implemented. President elect will not enter in office until the end of January. If he does try to set new policies in place, it still takes time to be decided on and implemented. I used my home territory to think about this. That territory is private space and it allowed me to restore myself and my thoughts. This is a very helpful strategy to use, because territory coping helps you process information. It’s a place of refuge. A place where you can easily make predictions.

People that was on Trump side will start to feel some empowerment, but don’t let your nerve desert you. Keep your posture and stay away from harmful situations. That also includes harmfulness to your mind. I also recommend to stay off social media for a while to cope. Social media isn’t going anywhere and it’s inevitable that post-election coverage will drown media outlets for some time. Be sure to take care of yourself, and partake of social media in moderation at least until post-election conversation calms down. Coping is just something that we will have to do to come in-tune with stressful situations. Have strategies to be able to cope with things more easily and you’ll be able to stress less. Coping, it’s a part of life!