Voters brace for post-election stress as APA poll reveals anxiety over nation's future
DORAL - An American Psychological Association poll found that most adults feel significant stress over the country's future, and some early voters are preparing themselves to cope with what happens after the election.
"If I go for, let's say, Donald Trump (and) my brother goes for Kamala, it will be stressful 'cause we don't get along on that," said Jose Santana, a voter casting a ballot at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department Monday.
"It's like when you're discussing something like, let's say for example, church. Talking about Catholic and Christian. They're never going to get along. So, it's going to be higher up and higher up until somebody explodes."
"(There's) no stress (for me) because all my friends are on my side," Igor Zuzick said.
More than 7 out of 10 adults said the country's future is a significant stressor, according to an American Psychological Association poll. Most of those polled also named the economy and the 2024 Presidential Election as stressors.
On TikTok, early voters vented about canceling out the votes of loved ones with different political views.
"What concerns me is if the people that I didn't vote for win," said Parquito Liberel, an early voter in Miami Gardens on Monday.
"Yeah, it's a lot of anxiety," Barbara Walker, another early voter in Miami Gardens, said. "So we just got to wait until November 5th."
By election day, early voters hope their coping strategies to manage differences with friends of different political viewpoints keep them calmer than supporters of U.S. Senate candidates Rick Scott and Debbie Murcarsel-Powell in West Kendall. The two groups needed police to step in between them Monday afternoon.
"Once everything is counted, you just gotta go with the flow," Walker said. "We always go with the flow."
"Whoever wins, wins," Santana said. "Whoever loses, loses. They're (both) not going to win. One gotta lose. So to me it's easy. If I lose, okay. I still have my job."
"We have to trust God," Liberel said. "Pray for whoever the people (are) that do win and just whoever wins, we'll just have to try to state our requests to that person."
Effective election-related stress coping strategies should limit how much political information you read or watch and find positive support from people who value you, according to the American Psychological Association.
