Arguably one of the nastiest, most hurtful presidential campaigns will end tonight with the election of either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. You all know I don’t support either candidate, but the blatant racism, bigotry, misogyny, sexism, and hateful diction is too much for me to ignore. I’m not going to discuss either candidate in detail but I wanted to share a few tips on how to care for yourself emotionally and mentally throughout the rest of the election.
- Hold your now vulnerable family and friends close. One specific candidate has targeted people of color, LGBTQ+ community, women, Muslims, disabled people and immigrants throughout the past year and a half (actually throughout a lifetime). These groups of people will be even more exposed to hateful diction than ever before. Please take the extra time to let them know you love them and care about them.
- Take mental health breaks away from political news. I, myself, have followed the election daily over the past 16+ months and it has taken a toll on my mental health. I love uncle Bernie and I’ve developed my own political views, but it’s not healthy to constantly read misogynistic attacks, sexual assault pandering and insults toward people of color. I need to step back and think about how these daily articles, tweets and Facebook posts are affecting me. It’s okay to indulge yourself in political news, but know when to step away.
- Continue fighting for equal rights. This election has revealed the disparities between social, environmental, racial, religious and gender classes. All people deserve the rights to safety, love and happiness. Always choose love, that’s the only thing that will keep us going.
