The Politics of Staying Sane

An Overview of Anxiety, Political Anxiety, and How to Manage It

As America grapples with uncertainty and a move toward darkness, we want to remind you that there is still light, and you are not alone.

There are many voices prepared to resist with and alongside you. Banters is here to discuss, listen, offer support, and help you find ways to manage your anxiety. We’ll get through this together.

Banters is a collaborative newsletter from Outspoken and Shallow State. Today’s issue spotlights anxiety - what is it? where does it come from? and how can we take steps to manage it? Anxiety is a broad, ubiquitous emotion. We all feel it. Our focus today is on political anxiety.

Outspoken is a woman, a resistor, an artist, an advocate, a legal beagle, and a survivor of trauma. She’s been through it, has overcome a lot, and wants to share and offer her support. Shallow State is a man, a resistor, a businessman, and an expert in abnormal psych. He’s schooled and skilled in human behavior, he’s the guy who hash-tagged malignant narcissism, and he wants to explain and offer his support. Collectively, Banters offers commentary that aggregates personal experience, opinion, and science.

Understanding Anxiety

Anxiety can be entirely natural, a normal reaction to stress. It is the body's way of preparing for a perceived future threat. While anxiety can be borne from a current threat, it is more typically considered a response of worry about future events, which is a key clinical distinction between anxiety and fear. Anxiety can induce physiological responses like rapid breathing and increased heart rate. Experiencing a traumatic event can also trigger anxiety, and anxiety can, in turn, trigger trauma. When anxiety is prolonged or severe, it has the potential to become a disorder; anxiety disorders include phobias and panic attacks. The US is believed to have the highest rate of anxiety disorders at 19.1%.

Having anxiety doesn't mean you have a disorder or are a pessimistic or "glass-half-empty" kind of person. There are tools to help you fill your glass, because let's face it, we all deserve a full one. Banters will delve deeper into the issues of managing non-political anxiety in upcoming editions.

OS (Outspoken): This was one of the most stressful holiday seasons for me — ever. A lot of it was political.

SS (Shallow State): You’re not alone. Especially since anxiety is about a feeling of dread, and we all have a measure of dread about Trump 2.0.

OS: It was even more intensified by the anniversary of January 6th and all these fuckers kissing his ring and throwing millions at his inaugural fund to curry favor.

SS: And the death of President Carter and soon, the departure of President Biden - it’s as if decency is being replaced by its polar opposite.

OS: Out with the Good, in with the Grift.

Sources of Political Anxiety

We can better understand how to manage and control our political anxiety if we first list some of the sources. Sources of political anxiety might vary across the globe, but if you’re an American who believes in democracy, as we are, the #1 source of political anxiety is the combination of Trump, Trumpism, and Trumpian tactics.

As you read down this list, consider making a mental note as to which affects you most. This may enable you to better identify which tools and techniques - which we have listed below - might help you manage your political anxiety:

The 24-hour news cycle - some of us remember when TV went off the air, the national anthem played, and the screen became a test pattern. Those days are so gone forever. Everything is faster, more frequent, easier to access. We feel barraged.

Chaos - this is one of the two most pronounced Trumpian strategies, and it works hand in hand with the never-ending news cycle. It’s repetition, volume, distraction, and obfuscation. We feel confusion, distrust, and uncertainty.

Gaslighting - this is the other most pronounced Trumpian strategy. It involves lies, false narratives, whitewashing, misdirection, projections, half-truths, and revisionism. We feel sadness - the sacredness of truth, accuracy, and history is undermined and lost.

Normalization - this, in our opinion, is the word that most defines the heightened level of anxiety we feel with Trump 2.0. The legacy media has let us down, big-time. The apparatus of Trumpism - enablers, amplifiers, grifters, and other opportunists, has become more formidable. We read stories of sell-outs obeying in advance every day. Abnormality is peddled as normal. We feel alone, claustrophobic, and surrounded. Partisanship, cravenness and complicity is everywhere - and as resistors, we feel angry.

OS: For some, there’s traumatic residue from Trump 1.0. I lost my father to Covid. It was an extremely painful loss, made worse because he died alone. I feel injustice.

SS: I’m so sorry. Injustice is everywhere with Trump. The lack of accountability - whether you see it as a personal failing of Garland, or others, or a systemic failing, or a two-tiered system of justice, or all the above - is mind boggling to me. I feel betrayed.

OS: A lot of that is on The Supreme Court, and its 6 partisan pieces of shit. Their constant delays, presidential immunity, lifetime appointments, and bogus self-proclaimed code of ethics, is fucking infuriating. I feel futility.

SS: Me too. And I feel rage.

SS: You and I are do seem to be triggered by many of the same things.

OS: His orange painted face, 100-word vocabulary, and masturbatory mannerisms trigger the fuck out of me. He deals in fear, and I’m not a patient person. I want out of this forced abusive relationship.

SS: Who among us can really say we haven’t been abused by Trump? But you really touched on two key things just now, both of which are similar but different from anxiety - fear and impatience.

Anxiety v. Fear

Anxiety is generally a response to a real or imagined future threat, sometimes specific, sometimes non-specific. Fear is a response to a present danger; it is usually more focused on a particular thing or circumstance. If you came face to face with a man-eating tiger, you’d feel fear. If you were walking through the jungle, wondering if there’s a tiger hiding in the brush, you’d feel anxiety.

A certain degree of anxiety is a good thing. Cognitively, it can increase our alertness and our vigilance or presence in the moment. Physiologically, it can improve performance (adrenaline).

The often-overlooked difference between fear and anxiety is that fear is contagious - it can signal others to be afraid. Anxiety is more internalized - remaining within the individual. Managing political anxiety requires resolve and patience.

Anxiety and Impatience

Anxiety and impatience often go hand in hand, creating a vicious cycle. Impatience is hard to avoid in today’s world. Do you find yourself fidgeting when you’re standing in line, and it doesn’t move more quickly? How well do you handle sitting in traffic? What about when a webpage takes 1.5 extra seconds to load, or you’re texting, and you don’t get an immediate response?

Impatience is a trait frequently seen in high achievers. It’s restlessness. How we react to it, is what matters. We’ve all got things to do, and there’s never enough hours in the day. But not everybody perceives the passage of time the same, and it’s that perception that some of us need to be more aware of, to ensure that our reaction is appropriate.

Getting annoyed is one thing. Getting materially upset, is another. If we can remain more aware of what might be an exaggerated perception of time, we can keep impatience from adding to our anxiety.

SS: Like many states of mind, both impatience and anxiety can be good in moderation, and less good in excess.

OS: Excessive anxiety is ‘less good?’ Why not just say it’s ‘bad?’

SS: Good and bad are such simplistic words; as proof, Trump uses them all the time.

OS: Touche. It would seem that political anxiety can lead to other forms of anxiety, and if people could better control political anxiety, they’d benefit.

SS: I agree. A lot of it is simply improving self-awareness, and getting less easily triggered. We also need to avoid the trap of getting addicted to our political anxiety.

Addiction to Anxiety

Yes, people really do get addicted to anxiety. In fact, it’s more common than you think. Politically, Trump is an anxiety manufacturer. It’s not surprising that addiction to political anxiety occurs more frequently among those who resist, but there is no shortage of addictive behavior occurring everywhere.

The word addiction is stigmatized, formerly reserved for substances and vices. But, with the advent of the internet and social media, human behavior became easier to exploit for power and profit by big business and government. We now live in a society where addiction is more far-reaching.

In a future issue of Banters, we will address the Cult of Trump. But it’s worth mentioning now that Addiction Theory is already increasingly used to explain their behavior. They engage compulsively, pursue rewarding stimuli, and ignore adverse consequence. Like addicts. They adopt arguments that work against their own best interests, like not getting vaccinated, or sending Trump hard-earned money for cheap crap. The former is defiant. The latter is compulsive. Both behaviors are rooted in the release of dopamine; therein lies the addiction.

Dopamine is known as the "feel good" hormone - released when we eat a great meal, have sex, or indulge in other pleasures. There are experiments where rodents will sometimes choose dopamine over survival. (We’re not saying that Trump supporters behave like rodents … but you can.) When a target group is pelted with repeated and carefully crafted messaging, like propaganda, it causes them to release dopamine from political discourse that attacks and insults their opponents (owning the libs). They behave addictively. This is what Fox News, and the right-wing ecosystem does.

The political left, more prone to political anxiety, also releases dopamine - but it’s more borne from a feeling that they need to be serious and engaged and fighting lies all the time, or else. Some will experience information overload. Some will neglect counterbalance, like humor, fun, and relaxation. Why would dopamine be released in these cases? Because our brains train us to be purposeful, important, involved, and active, and to avoid the opposite, which is boredom, loneliness, and lack of purpose.

It is easy these days for political anxiety to become excessive like an addiction. Thankfully, there are tools for managing it, including increasing our self-awareness.

Tools and Tips for Managing Anxiety

We get it, anxiety sucks, but the good news is there are ways to manage it. The mind and body are inextricably linked. We can often improve our mental well-being through improvements we make physically. The idea is to ground yourself so as to quiet the symptoms, regain control, shift focus, and use that to reduce your stress. One way to do that is to identify triggers and become more self-aware.

Below is our list of 12 tools and tips. We invite your comments and hope you find one or more to be helpful to you or someone you love:

1. Breathe. Deep breathing is an age-old stress reducer. Try implementing the 5-5-5 Rule which acts to slow down your pace - breathe deeply for 5 seconds, hold that breath for 5 seconds, and then exhale slowly for at least 5 seconds. Keep practicing until your exhale is twice as long as your inhale.

2. Get Back into THE NOW. Try bringing your attention back to the present moment using the 3-3-3 Method - name 3 things you can see, name 3 sounds you hear, and move 3 parts of your body.

3. Exercise. You really didn’t need more proof that exercise was good for you, did you? It assists in diverting your attention and eases muscle tension. Walking, Yoga, and Tai chi are three low-impact exercises known to reduce anxiety. Regular exercise can help you build resilience.

4. Pause. Tune out the noise. Turn off the news. Give yourself a break.

5. Focus on Sounds. Music soothes the soul. Humming slows your heart rate and induces a sense of tranquility. A recommended genre is classical - but if heavy metal is your gig and soothes you, by all means rock on. Ambient and white noise, as well as nature sounds can evoke peaceful feelings.

6. Engage your other Senses. Focus on Taste - good food, eating out, cooking for yourself, or others. Focus on Smells - nature, flowers, scented candles, aromatherapy. Focus on Touch - buy a Trump doll and punch it.

7. Sleep and Rest. It can be difficult to fall asleep when your mind is racing, but a good night’s sleep can help stabilize your emotions. Practice relaxation. Use the breathing exercise above. Turn on some music or sounds as we outlined above. Create a routine and give yourself time to unwind which may include a warm bath, reading or having a cup of chamomile tea before bed. Try sleeping in a dark and cool room. Count sheep - but make it actual sheep, not MAGA.

8. Find your helpers. Be a helper. Reach out. This is a tough one, isn’t it? We can pretty much guarantee that you’ll be pleasantly amazed that people want to help you feel better. Don’t be afraid to ask for a hug, or a hand-hold - both of which are natural cortisol reducers. A good conversation with a good friend is another good way to find calm. We know for certain how good you’ll feel by ‘being there’ for someone in their time of need.

9. Spend time with Pets. If you have a pet, consider your loyal friend an immediate anxiety reducer and go cuddle or take a walk.

10. Engage in Hobbies. New ones, old ones, focus on creative pursuits.

11. Write. Keeping a journal to write down your feelings can lead to mindfulness and ultimately lessen your stress. Don’t feel pressure. Write down whatever pops into your mind - keep it that simple - but do it for at least 15 minutes. The act of “putting it out there” can be exceptionally empowering and calming. Over time, your writings may begin to reveal repeated patterns and themes which may assist in pinpointing your anxiety triggers - which will then make it easier for you to avoid or remove those triggers. Don’t forget to doodle and draw in your journal because both are instant mind soothers.

12. Consider Meditation; also, Affirmation. Both are incredibly impactful in helping to alleviate anxiety. You own this! See what we did there? Write some of these affirmations onto sticky notes and place them in areas to reinforce reassuring thoughts from negative ones. “I am fearless” might belong on your bathroom mirror. Daily affirmations can significantly change the way you perceive yourself.

    Also. Remember to Laugh. Next time you watch a movie, make it a comedy.

    There are many wonderful online Chat and Support Groups. Banters will be launching its Chat soon.

    Nothing said herein is meant as a replacement for professional mental health support.

IN CLOSING, this Banters collaboration will continue to present a more complete picture of what we’ll face ahead with frank exchanges that never pull punches. We’re resistors. And resistance needs focus and perspective. Outspoken HATES Trump, pure and simple. Shallow State says that what he really hates, is TrumpISM, the apparatus, and the fact that truth is being trampled. For more info on who we are check out our Welcome Issue, and follow us on Bluesky and yeah, Twitter.

We will be announcing our Banters Chat soon - YOUR MISSION, should you choose to accept it, is to help us name that Chat.

Credits: Original art by Outspoken

COMING UP in future issues of Banters:

Windfall of Untruths and Alternative Facts

The Trump Cult - WTF - maybe we're asking the wrong question

Fear is the point, but the Grift is the goal

What happened to Happiness, and why don’t Americans pursue it anymore?

TIPS on dealing with stress