Post Election Anxiety and Depression
Are you one of the 320 million people who are reacting to the recent presidential election? As you gather, you are not alone. There has never been in the history of U.S. politics a more anxiety inducing pre and post election.
Millions upon millions of people are living with the symptoms of sleepless nights, chronic anxiety, fluctuating depression, anger, frustration, and fear. Over the past 2 years, rage and anger have been seen at home and at the workplace. Now, we see post election bullying, fear of being deported, and protesting in the streets that we haven’t seen since the Vietnam War in the 1970’s.
During those protests, you saw racial acting out of the white supremacy that was seen in the early 1960’s. Along with this, is the fear that many of the federal laws that have helped women’s rights, such as Roe v. Wade, may come to an end.
In addition to fear, there is frustration with the media, which has helped to inflame both sides, producing high anxiety, causing a fight or flight reaction.
In the past, you only knew of who was protesting the injustice in your home town or state. Of which you might have some control of through calling your city council or state legislature. Now, you are inundated with protests and hate crimes all over the U.S., which you have little or no control over, only causing your body to react to high anxiety, anger, fear, and frustration.
The reason I am writing this blog is to let you know that there is Help and Hope for your chronic anxiety and sleepless nights.
Internal Treatment Methods for Post Election Anxiety and Depression.
- Prayer
- Meditation
- Visualization
- Distraction
- Thinking about something else
- Fidgeting
- Music: Singing, dancing, drumming
- Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT)/Thought Field Therapy (TFT)
- Energy Medicine
- Art
- Humor
- Heart Rate Variability Breathing (HRV)
- Hypnosis
- Exercise, Yoga, Reiki, Ti Chi, and QiGong
Worldwide prayer and/or meditation are two of the most calming methods known. However, most people do not take time to pray, and learning how to meditate correctly has a learning curve, just read the book Eat, Pray, Love.
VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR POST ELECTION ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
If you prefer utilizing visualization, distraction, and breathing techniques, Dr. Joseph Cautella, Ph.D., former professor of Psychology at Boston College, developed the Cautella’s Self Control Triad. The following is a brief explanation of Cautella’s method:
You learn to stop thinking by saying, “Stop,” and then taking a deep breath in through your nose, and exhale out of your mouth. Then, you picture water over your body, and while picturing a squeegee, you visualize the squeegee removing the water, going from the top of your body down to your toes. You keep doing this until you feel calmer, and then you picture a calming relaxing scene.
ENERGY PSYCHOLOGY AND ENERGY MEDICINE FOR POST ELECTION ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SYMPTOMS
For many people fidgeting with their clothing, hair, or other objects can be very calming. Singing, dancing, making rhythmic sounds, tapping, or drumming is also very effective.
If you like drumming or tapping, there is a form of Energy Psychology called Emotional Freedom Therapy (EFT) and/or Thought Field Therapy (TFT), which encourages you to tap specific acupressure points in a specific pattern to alleviate anxiety.
There is also Energy Medicine, founded and developed by Donna Eden and Dr. David Feinstein, which heals the body by activating and/or restoring its natural healing energies if they have become weak, disturbed, or out of balance. Energy medicine uses techniques from healing methods such as Acupuncture, yoga, kinesiology, and Qi Gong. These different approaches work well against the symptoms of PCS and PTSD. Dr. Diane® has been trained in all of these methods and is a certified practitioner.
Creating art is an internal method that allows the overactive Limbic system to feel calm. This is also true of using humor as a method. On the other hand, Heart Rate Breathing does require some external devices to give you the proper feedback. One of the best is through HeartMath, Emwave.
Dr. Diane® is also published in the field of Hypnosis. See link. Hypnosis is the natural ability to disassociate from the current situation. Once you have learned what is needed, you have an extremely effective method for alleviating anxiety.
Exercise, whether it is active sports, or recreational activity such as yoga, Ti Chi, Reiki, and/or QiGong, is great at producing a calming effect to the brain without any external methods. Clara Diebold is a Reiki Master and is a part of the Brain Health Team.
External Treatment Methods for POST ELECTION ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
- Nutrition
- Medication
- Hot Bath or Hot Tub
- Talk Therapy/Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Brain Spotting
- Acupuncture
- Cranial Sacral Therapy
- Homeopathic, including Bach Flower Essence
- Herbal Remedies
- Biofeedback
- Cranial Electro Stimulation (CES)
- Neurofeedback
- Aroma Therapy
- Light Therapy
- Sound Therapy
- Massage, such as Reflexology or Feldenkrais Method
- Energy Work: Reiki, Polarity, Quantum Touch
- Night out: movie, theater, etc.
- Vacation
NUTRITION FOR POST ELECTION ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
What you eat truly does affect how you feel. If you eat lots of sugar you will not feel calm, and feelings of anxiety will heighten. Alcohol and some recreational drugs will perpetuate anxiety. If you have any form of brain injury, please avoid sugar, alcohol, and recreational drugs. Martha Lindsay is our Nutrition Educator as part of the Brain Health Team.
MEDICATION FOR POST ELECTION ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
Before using any medication, whether it is prescribed or over the counter, please consider the side effects of medication and how it may affect you due to your sensitivity to it. Before taking any medication, discuss your medical history with your PCP or licensed provider. This also goes for Homeopathic, herbal remedies, and Aromatherapies. Dr. Sharon Barrett, M.D. is our Psychopharmacologist as part of the Brain Health Team.
Susan Keefe is our Homeopathic practitioner as part of the Brain Health Team. Dr. Diane is also an essential oil provider.
OTHER EXTERNAL METHODS FOR ALLEVIATING ANXIETY
Acupuncture has been around for over 4,000 years as an external method for alleviating anxiety. William Mogan, Tom Tam, and Yvonne Tam are our team Acupuncturists.
What you think can cause your body and brain to react. Understanding how you think and how to change your thinking can be effectively done through talk therapy; Dr. Diane is a licensed Psychologist. Another form of talk therapy, specifically designed to deal with anxiety, is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), which was developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro. This form of talk therapy includes an integrative eight-phase approach to disconnecting the emotional and physical reaction to a traumatic event from the thought of the event. This method of identifying the physical and emotional triggers that heighten PCS symptoms provides tools to work through and sever this connection
Sound therapy includes using scientific programs such as Hemi-Sync, Bilateral Sounds, the Tomatis Method, and Swingle Sounds to help to soothe the Limbic system. Light therapy uses lasers from infrared to visual wave patterns, to sitting under various color lights that help produce a calming effect to the brain. Paul Soper is our Sound Specialist as part of our Brain Health Team.
BIOFEEDBACK AND NEUROFEEDBACK FOR POST ELECTION ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
Biofeedback, which includes thermal, muscular, and EEG (Neurofeedback), is akin to looking in a mirror that reflects your inner responses rather than your outer appearance. Ordinarily, you cannot influence your brain wave activity because you have no information about it. However, when you can see instantaneous information about your brain function on a computer screen, you have the ability to positively influence that function.
One form of Biofeedback speaks to the body through electrical impulse signals that are modified based on changes detected at the skin’s surface, such as reddening or numbness. Signals are sent to the body through the skin based on changes within the body, and are then reflected back to the surface of the skin. This causes the body to move toward a more normative state. Self-controlled Energy Neuro Adaptive Regulation (SCENAR) employs signals that are modified depending on what happened in the past—a backward-looking technology that is viewed as reorganizing. The newer Cosmodic technology of adaptive regulation looks ahead to the body’s target state of response, so it is more regenerative in nature.
Another electrical Biofeedback method that was also developed in Russia during the 1950s is Cranial Electro Stimulation (CES). From this technology, there has been double blind clinical trials, proving it effective in treating anxiety, insomnia, and depression. It is also a registered FDA medical device for alleviating said symptoms, and it is effective for chronic pain.
Neurofeedback has many subdivisions, which I will go into greater detail about in a future post. However, all of the various types are specifically designed to alleviate anxiety. The number of external sessions of treatment vary depending on the specific cause. Neurofeedback is one of the external methods that not only addresses the symptom of anxiety, but also addresses the cause.
The use of Neurofeedback with talk therapy, in conjunction with many of the other internal and external modalities presented, can help to alleviate anxiety. Both Dr. Diane and Paul Soper provide Neurofeedback as part of the Brain Health Expert Team.
Get Help Today
Dr. Diane® Brain Health utilizes state of the art and cutting edge technology and has the Solutions and ResourcesSM to get you feeling your best. The Dr. Diane® integrative team of Brain Health Experts is trained in conventional, complementary, and alternative specialties. Our 5 Prong Approach will provide you a customized treatment program, because Dr. Diane® sees each person as a unique individual and knows that one method does not fit everyone.
If POST ELECTION ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION is keeping you from living a full life, call our office at 800.500.9971, or fill out our form to schedule an in-person, phone, or Zoom consultation and start regaining your life! There is a Way!®
GET HELP TODAY!
Dr. Diane Roberts Stoler
DR. DIANE ROBERTS STOLER, ED.D.
With over 35 years of experience as a Neuropsychologist, Board Certified Health Psychologist, Board Certified Sports Psychologist, and brain injury survivor Dr. Diane can help you!
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