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Healthy SA: Minimizing the effects of election season anxiety

Experts way in with ways to best deal with the stress and anxiety that often comes with a nearing general election.

SAN ANTONIO — We are just days away from the general election, and in today's Healthy SA we find out the closer the election gets, the amount of anxiety we have can go sky high which can have drastic effects on our health.

Polls, speeches, rallies and political advertisements. All things that can add up and make our anxiety boil over. But there are ways to minimize the effects and keep that mountain of stress from erupting, especially at work.

Jim Link, the chief human resource officer at SHRM told KENS 5, "We think that actually what's happening is people are seeing acts of intimidation. Some cases acts of violence. Some cases acts of just discomfort occurring more and more and more in the workplace."

A study by Secret Nature found about one out of every three people reported stress due to the general election. One in every two people admitted to arguing with family members over politics. And seven out of every 10 people say the biggest cause of stress is a family member supporting a different candidate.

Link says to leave any political related anxiety from work, there. 

"We know that people bring work home and they take home to work," Link said. "And so that expectation that this is having an impact in both places, I think is a natural conclusion you could draw."

Here are some tips experts recommend to manage election anxiety.

Set boundaries around political discussions. Schedule screen-free moments together. Practice empathy and open-ended questions. Focus on what you can control and strengthen bonds. Finally, just be civil to one another. 

"When people experience acts of incivility, that certainly creates different responses in different individuals. But at at the best case, it makes you uncomfortable," Link said.

For more mental health tips to cut down on your anxiety click here.

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