The 2024 presidential election is breaking all records. It is the most expensive race in United States history, with both campaigns are on track to spend nearly $16 billion.

This election is also causing more angst among voters than any other election in recent history.

Around 77% of people surveyed by the American Psychological Association of stressors in 2024 cite the future of the country, and 69% specifically cite the presidential election. That’s an increase from the 68% of respondents who were worried about the 2020 election and the 52% who cited the 2016 election as that year.

Additionally, 72% of adults said they fear the results of this year’s elections could lead to violence, and 56% said they believe these results could mean the end of democracy as we know it in the states. -United.

Texas voters are also feeling anxious. And they find different ways to deal with it.

The future of the country

Like many adults interviewed by the APA, Janet Ekezie, 28, fears that the presidential election will decide the future of democracy.

“There are so many issues at stake when it comes to democracy, identity, who we are as a people,” Ekezie said. “Even if people chose to vote or not, there are many ways things could go. »

Ekezie studies public administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is following the elections closely because the results could affect her personally.

She recalled how, after Trump’s election in 2016, she felt more nervous than ever about being in public.

“I remember thinking: I have to travel at specific times of the day, I can’t leave my car after a certain time at night,” said Ekezie, a black woman. “I felt relatively physically unsafe because of the color of my skin and what I represented as a person. As for my overall safety…I felt like my existence was in danger.

Ekezie took steps to deal with her anxiety. She attended political events on and off campus and encouraged her friends to vote.

She also began hosting her own podcast, called “I Am…”, in which she invites politicians from outside Texas to talk about politics and identity. In an August episode, she spoke to Kenny Nguyen, a city council member from Broomfield, Colorado.

“I was able to host someone from a different state and we discussed broader national issues,” Ekezie said. “It was a great way, with the small platform I have, to get people involved in the process.”

Therapists and other anxiety experts recommend similar accommodation measures, since the condition arises from a feeling of lack of control.

“I can choose to ruminate or even go so far as to be upset about an outcome I don’t agree with, but in my current state, I can’t control everything,” she said. “As long as I do my best, I can also sleep at night.”

Lower the noise

Kerry O’Malley Gleim, 24, worries about voter turnout, especially among her generation.

O’Malley Gleim, who lives in Dallas, said systems like the Electoral College and gerrymandering make people feel like voting isn’t even worth it.

“I feel like people have used these loopholes to try to change these systems to make them work in their favor,” O’Malley Gleim said. “Both parties are equally at fault for this. But I feel like it definitely turned people off.

She said she also feels pressure to stay hyper-informed. Gleim said she felt that in order to have a conversation about just about anything, she needed to consume information about everything.

“This pressure also contributes to not wanting to vote because… if I’m not informed about everything, how can I vote?” she said. “Am I an informed voter when I don’t know everything about everything?

Gleim said other members of Generation Z feel the same way, especially as politics has become divisive. She said there is greater pressure to be politically active, particularly through social media.

As a result, she reduced her use of social media. She stopped using TikTok last November and deleted the Instagram app from her phone so she could only access it on a desktop computer. She also organized her feed to focus more on people she knows so she’s not constantly scrolling.

Evidence for the correlation between anxiety and social media is still widely available. anecdotalbut experts have found that young people report high rates of poor mental health linked to social media use.

“I feel like my relationship with social media has definitely changed to be more about being a connector between me and the people I care about, rather than a way to interact with the world” , Gleim said.

Building a community

Courtesy

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Marianne Richardson

Marianne Richardson must be attentive to current events for her work. As a 32-year-old search consultant in Austin, she constantly reads local and national news throughout her day. She describes herself as passionate about information.

“I have less anxiety about the election,” Richardson said. “It’s also because my life right now is much more stable than it has been in the last five years.”

But she knows people close to her who worry about political polarization, so she’s trying to build more community around her.

“I care very much about our particular American values ​​and I think they improve our communities,” she said.

After being isolated during the pandemic, she felt the need to strengthen her connections with her own community. She joined the board of directors of her local community garden, started improv classes, and looked for other hobbies and ways to make friends.

Anyone who suffers from anxiety will tell you that it can create a feeling of isolation. And experts say that the way to combat the so-called Loneliness epidemic in the United States it’s surrounding yourself with others.

“People just want to collaborate to make the world a better place and make their communities better,” Richardson said. “There is so much good that can happen in the world around me that doesn’t require us all to agree on everything.”

This story was produced in collaboration with the Texas Newsroom. A second article on tips for dealing with election anxiety will be published soon.

Copyright 2024 KERA