The Current Political Climate and Its Effects on Mental Health: A Brief Review and Practical Recommendations

Political Climate and Mental Health: What Recent Data Say

Large, nationally sampled surveys show that politics is now a routine stressor. The American Psychological Association’s Stress in America 2024 report identified the future of the nation, the economy, and the presidential election as top stressors for U.S. adults. Qualitative themes included persistent worry, fatigue, and tension around political conversations. (American Psychological Association [APA], 2024). (American Psychological Association)

Figure 1. Emotions when thinking about politics (Pew Research Center, 2023; Always/Often).

Pew Research Center finds that most Americans report negative emotions when thinking about politics—exhaustion and anger dominate—while hope and excitement are comparatively rare. Related work in 2024 documents a growing segment of Americans who are “tuning out” politics to cope—an avoidance strategy that may reduce immediate distress but carries civic tradeoffs. (Pew Research Center, 2023, 2024). (Pew Research Center)

Beyond mood, observational studies suggest tangible health and functioning costs. In representative U.S. samples, sizeable minorities report politics contributing to stress, sleep loss, decreased productivity, and conflict with family/friends; a small but notable fraction even attributes suicidal thoughts to political exposure. Effects remained stable or slightly worsened from 2017 to 2020. (Smith et al., 2019; Smith et al., 2022). (PLOS)

Elections and major policy events can also shape mental health at the population level. Analyses of mental health trends around the 2016 U.S. election found post-election shifts in mental health indicators, suggesting macro-political events can measurably affect well-being for subgroups. (McCoy et al., 2020). (PMC)

Finally, contemporary polling around the 2024 cycle indicates pervasive anxiety and frustration about the campaign, echoing prior APA findings about election stress. (AP-NORC, 2024; APA, 2024; APA Monitor, 2024). (AP News)

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Why Politics Can Hurt (and Help) Mental Health

High-stakes political narratives can amplify threat appraisals and uncertainty, elevating physiological arousal and sleep disruption. Polarization strains relationships, while continuous exposure to politicized news increases stress and avoidance for some. Subgroups facing targeted policies or rhetoric may experience disproportionate impact.

Figure 2. Self-reported costs of politics (Smith et al., 2019, PLOS ONE).

Appraisal of Threat and Uncertainty. High-stakes political narratives amplify threat appraisals (“the stakes are existential”), which heightens sympathetic arousal and vigilance. Prolonged uncertainty (e.g., contentious elections, policy volatility) keeps the stress response “on,” fueling sleep disruption and irritability (APA, 2024; APA Monitor, 2024). (American Psychological Association)

Social Fracture and Moral Injury. Polarization strains families and friendships; political talk can evoke identity threat and moral outrage. Chronic conflict correlates with distress and rumination, consistent with surveys linking politics to interpersonal fallout and diminished well-being (Smith et al., 2019, 2022; Pew, 2023). (PLOS)

Information Overload and Media Diet. Continuous exposure to politicized feeds (breaking news, algorithmic amplification) increases stress and can produce avoidance (“tuning out”). Selective exposure can also narrow perspectives and prolong anger/fear cycles (Pew, 2024; APA Monitor, 2024). (Pew Research Center)

Unequal Burdens. Threats to legal status, bodily autonomy, or safety can intensify stress in specific groups (e.g., immigrants, religious/racial minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals). Although effects are heterogeneous, subgroups facing policy or rhetoric targeted at them often report higher distress during contentious periods (APA, 2024; McCoy et al., 2020). (American Psychological Association)

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Evidence-Informed Recommendations

For Individuals

1. Right-size your media diet.

   • Set daily “windows” for political news (e.g., 20–30 minutes, once or twice a day).

   • Prioritize text over endless video streams to reduce arousal; mute auto-play and notifications. (APA Monitor, 2024). (American Psychological Association)

2. Name–Normalize–Navigate.

   • Label the emotion (“I’m angry/exhausted about politics”), normalize common reactions, then choose a regulating skill (paced breathing, movement, social connection). (APA, 2024). (American Psychological Association)

3. Boundaries for relationships.

   • Agree on “rules of engagement”: time limits, topics off-limits, or “pause words” to stop escalation. (Pew, 2023). (Pew Research Center)

4. Values-aligned action (small doses).

   • Replace doomscrolling with one concrete civic act per week: volunteering, contacting representatives, or community service—behaviors linked to agency and prosocial affect (APA Monitor, 2024). (American Psychological Association)

5. Seek care if red flags appear.

   • Persistent sleep loss, intrusive worry, panic, or hopelessness merits clinical support; if suicidal thoughts emerge, contact 988 immediately. (APA, 2024). (American Psychological Association)

For Clinicians

1. Assess political stress without pathologizing.

   • Briefly screen for politics-related distress, sleep, conflict, and avoidance; validate the context while targeting impairing symptoms (Smith et al., 2019/2022). (PLOS)

2. Target transdiagnostic mechanisms.

   • Use CBT for worry/rumination, ACT for experiential avoidance/values, and sleep interventions; incorporate media hygiene plans and stimulus control (APA Monitor, 2024). (American Psychological Association)

3. Strengthen social safety.

   • Coach boundary scripts and de-escalation; build “non-political” relational routines to preserve connection. (Pew, 2023). (Pew Research Center)

4. Crisis-planning in election seasons.

   • Anticipate spikes near debates and results; schedule coping rehearsals; review 988/ER pathways (APA, 2024). (American Psychological Association)

For Organizations & Communities

1. Psychological safety at work/school.

   • Offer opt-in forums with facilitation; keep core workflows apolitical; provide mental health resources during high-salience events (APA, 2024). (American Psychological Association)

2. Media-literacy and misinformation hygiene.

   • Teach source evaluation and limit high-arousal formats; normalize “news sabbaths” without shaming civic engagement (APA Monitor, 2024). (American Psychological Association)

For Policymakers

1. De-escalation norms.

   • Incentivize accurate information, reduce incendiary rhetoric, and support civic spaces that model respectful disagreement—conditions associated with lower community stress (APA, 2024; Pew, 2023). (American Psychological Association)

2. Resource the mental-health system during political peaks.

• Expand crisis lines, embed counselors in campuses/communities, and fund public campaigns on coping and civil discourse (APA, 2024). (American Psychological Association)

  

  Figure 3. Concept model: Political climate → mechanisms (threat, conflict, information load) → outcomes (distress, interpersonal strain).

Limitations and Future Directions

Most data are observational or survey-based; causal claims about politics and mental health require caution. The impact is heterogeneous—many experience manageable stress while a smaller segment reports severe effects (e.g., sleep loss, functional impairment). Social-media dynamics and targeted harassment likely mediate risk in subgroups and deserve more longitudinal study. (Smith et al., 2019/2022; Pew, 2023/2024; APA, 2024). (PLOS)

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Conclusion

The contemporary political climate reliably functions as a population-level stressor, with clear emotional and interpersonal costs for many—and outsized costs for a vulnerable subset. The goal is not political avoidance but healthier engagement: right-sized media exposure, strengthened relationships, values-aligned action, and access to timely care. Individuals, clinicians, organizations, and policymakers each have a role in lowering the temperature and protecting mental health during contentious periods. (APA, 2024; Pew, 2023/2024; Smith et al., 2019/2022). (American Psychological Association)

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References

American Psychological Association. (2024). Stress in America 2024: A nation in political turmoil. https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/stress-in-america/2024 (American Psychological Association)

American Psychological Association. (2024, October). Managing political stress (APA Monitor). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2024/10/managing-political-stress (American Psychological Association)

AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (2024). Americans are anxious and frustrated about the presidential campaign. https://apnews.com/article/a95fc81fae305728968b30ced4a2dc53 (AP News)

McCoy, C. A., et al. (2020). Changes in mental health following the 2016 presidential election. Social Science & Medicine, 263, 113386. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7602772/ (PMC)

Pew Research Center. (2023, September 19). Americans’ feelings about politics, polarization, and the tone of discourse. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/09/19/americans-feelings-about-politics-polarization-and-the-tone-of-political-discourse/ (Pew Research Center)

Pew Research Center. (2024, January 9). Tuning out: Americans on the edge of politics. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/01/09/tuning-out-americans-on-the-edge-of-politics/ (Pew Research Center)

Smith, K. B., Hibbing, M. V., Hibbing, J. R., George, B., & Shao, B. (2019). Friends, relatives, sanity, and health: The costs of politics to the American public. PLOS ONE, 14(9), e0221870. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0221870 (PLOS)

Smith, K. B., Hibbing, M. V., Hibbing, J. R., George, B., & Shao, B. (2022). The negative impact of political engagement on public health in the United States: Findings from the 2017–2020 PSS. PLOS ONE, 17(1), e0262022. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0262022 (PLOS)