The recent election, due to it’s highly divisive nature, has caused major emotional turmoil for us all. We were in constant stress about who would win or what they would do after their (re)election that we forgot the number one thing that is important for us- to take care of ourselves. Here are a few tips on how to overcome post-election stress and live a happy life free from the turmoil of American politics.

The first thing you can do is stop watching the news as much. This is because all the news wishes to do is manipulate information in order to convert you to their political opinion, therefore their news stories are going to be very negative in nature. This negativity elicits a negative emotional response from you when you look at it and makes you more unhappy. So make sure to limit your news intake everyday and instead focus on positive events within your family and friends.

The second thing you can do is realize that it is that is that it can be very difficult to influence what a politician ultimately does in office, thus, while it is important to keep track of what is going on, don’t get too emotionally invested into the political sphere(unless politics is really your thing or a specific issue is very important to you).  Instead, focus on what affects you. Make sure you are doing well in school, work or in your relationships. Do fun things with your friends or family, go on vacation, ect. Do stuff that improves your happiness, things that you actually have full control over.

The third thing you can do is accept the election results for what they are. Whether your preferred political candidate won or lost, this is ultimately what makes our representative republic function. Having political opposition in power is ultimately what makes democracy work as a system. It is ultimately foolish to unfriend someone on Facebook because they have a different political opinion than you(though it will help your sanity to mute them), because the ability to disagree is ultimately the cornerstone of American freedom.

The final thing you can do is ignore political outbursts from people around you. Most people are  set in their opinions these days. There is no way you are going to change their opinion, and vice versa, so just move along. Getting into an argument will only make the situation worse and make you more stressed and angry, something that is ultimately not good for your mental health.