You told yourself you'd only check the headlines once today.
It's now the fourth time before lunch. Your shoulders are up around your ears. You've drafted and deleted two replies to a relative's post. You know that refreshing the feed won't change the outcome, and you're doing it anyway.
If the days before an election leave you tense, distracted, and short on sleep, you're not being dramatic. In national surveys from the American Psychological Association, a clear majority of adults—across political affiliations—have named elections and the future of the country as significant sources of stress.
As a therapist in Los Angeles, I see it in my practice every cycle: capable, informed people whose nervous systems are quietly running on high alert. This isn't a post about politics. It's about what election season does to an anxious mind, and how to care about the outcome without handing over your wellbeing to it.
Is the news cycle taking over your nervous system? Book a 15-minute consultation to talk through what's going on and whether working together is a good fit.
Why Elections Hit Anxious Minds So Hard
Election stress isn't a sign you're too sensitive. It's a predictable response to a specific set of conditions.
High Stakes, Low Control
Anxiety thrives where something matters deeply and you have limited influence over how it turns out. An election is almost a textbook case. You get one vote, and then you wait.
Uncertainty Without an End Date
The anxious brain treats uncertainty as danger. Weeks of polls, predictions, and "what if" scenarios give it an endless supply of material—and no way to resolve any of it.
A News Cycle Built for Alarm
Feeds and headlines are designed to hold attention, and nothing holds attention like threat. Every alert tells your body something urgent is happening, even when nothing has actually changed since the last one.
It Feels Personal Because It Is
For many people, what's on the ballot touches their families, their work, their safety, or their sense of belonging. That's not abstract. It makes sense that your body responds.
Informed vs. Flooded
There's a point where taking in more information stops making you more informed and simply makes you more activated.
Signs you've crossed it:
You check the news compulsively, and feel worse each time
You have trouble concentrating on work or conversations
Your sleep is lighter, shorter, or interrupted by scrolling
You're more irritable with the people you live with
You notice physical tension—jaw, chest, stomach—that doesn't let up
Your mind runs worst-case scenarios on a loop
Doomscrolling feels like preparation. To your nervous system, it's repeated exposure to threat with no action to discharge it. That's a recipe for anxiety, not readiness.
You don't have to figure this out alone. I offer anxiety therapy in person in Encino and Studio City, and virtually across California, Nevada, and Oregon. Book a consultation to get started.
What Actually Helps
Put Edges Around Your News Intake
Pick one or two set times a day to check in, from sources you trust, for a set amount of time. Turn off push alerts. Keep the phone out of the bedroom. You will not miss anything essential. If something truly major happens, you'll know.
Sort What's Yours From What Isn't
Anxious minds blur the line between concern and control. It helps to make it concrete:
In your control: voting, how you spend your time and money, how you treat people, what you consume
Not in your control: the outcome, other people's opinions, what happens next week
Put your energy into the first list. Practice letting the second one be unresolved.
Turn Worry Into One Action
Anxiety is energy looking for somewhere to go. Voting, volunteering, donating, or helping a neighbor gives it a direction. Then let that be enough. Action is the antidote to helplessness; endless monitoring is not.
Protect the Basics
Sleep, food, movement, daylight. They sound too simple to matter, and they're the first things to slip during a stressful stretch. A depleted body reads everything as more threatening.
Decide Your Boundaries Before the Conversation Starts
You're allowed to care about people you disagree with. You're also allowed to say, "I'd rather not get into politics tonight." Decide ahead of time which conversations you're willing to have, with whom, and what you'll say when you're done.
Have a Plan for Election Night
Decide in advance how you want to spend it. Maybe that's watching with people who steady you. Maybe it's a movie, an early night, and the results in the morning. Results may take time, and staying up refreshing a map rarely helps anyone.
When Politics Comes Home
Some of the hardest election stress isn't national. It's sitting across the table from you.
If you and your partner or family see things differently, a few things help: lead with curiosity rather than correction, talk about the values and fears underneath the positions, and agree on when the topic is off the table. You don't have to resolve your differences by Tuesday. You do have to keep living together afterward.
And if you and your partner agree politically but cope differently—one of you wants to talk it through, the other wants to tune out—name that directly. It's a difference in regulation, not a difference in caring.
After the Results
Whatever happens, there will be feelings. Relief, grief, anger, numbness, sometimes all in one afternoon.
Give yourself a few days before drawing conclusions about the future. Stay close to your people. Keep your routines. Limit the post-game analysis, which tends to extend the stress without adding much.
When It's More Than Election Stress
For some people, an election doesn't create anxiety so much as reveal it. If you notice that the worry doesn't settle, that it has spread to other areas of your life, or that you've felt this keyed-up for months, it may be worth looking at what's underneath.
Therapy can help you build a different relationship with uncertainty—one where you can care deeply about the world and still sleep at night.
A Final Note
Caring about what happens isn't the problem. Being consumed by it is.
You're allowed to be an engaged, informed person and to close the laptop. Looking after your nervous system isn't checking out. It's what lets you keep showing up.
If you're considering anxiety therapy in Los Angeles, or virtual therapy across California, Nevada, or Oregon, I'd love to talk.
Book a consultation or get in touch to take the first step.
Keep reading: Why Overthinking Can Feel Impossible to Turn Off · High Functioning Anxiety: When Success Doesn't Feel Like Success
Frequently Asked Questions
Is election anxiety a real thing? Yes. It isn't a formal diagnosis, but election-related stress is well documented in national surveys, and the symptoms—worry, poor sleep, irritability, trouble concentrating—are the same ones we see with other forms of anxiety.
How much news is too much? There's no universal number. A good test is how you feel afterward. If checking leaves you more informed and able to move on, that's fine. If it leaves you more activated and reaching for the next update, it's time to set limits.
How do I handle political disagreements with family? Decide your limits ahead of time, stay curious where you can, and give yourself permission to change the subject or step away. Protecting the relationship and protecting your peace are both legitimate goals.
What if I'm still anxious after the election is over? That's common. Stress doesn't switch off the moment results come in. If the anxiety lingers for weeks or begins affecting your work, sleep, or relationships, it's worth talking with a therapist.
Can therapy help with stress about things I can't control? Yes. That's a large part of what anxiety therapy is—learning to tolerate uncertainty, calm your body's threat response, and put your energy where it can actually make a difference.
Ready to feel steadier, whatever the headlines say? Book a 15-minute consultation with Tanya Samuelian, LMFT, learn more about individual therapy in Los Angeles, or read more about how I work.