Politics-free Friday’s could be just the ticket – Wyoming Tribune
Politics-free Friday’s could be just the ticket Wyoming Tribune
Another week filled with outrage, unsupported conspiracies and murmurs of sedition may seem normal to some after more than two years of pandemic-induced paranoia.
But dang it all if what seems at times a hopeless chore of finding conscientious compromise at any level of political discourse — local, state or national — it’s exhausting to the point of wanting to cry uncle (or perhaps just cry).
The kettle was already simmering when the COVID-19 pandemic became not only a health crisis, but a political one as well. And the stress of virus-induced public health orders became the impetus for the intersection of impatience and intolerance.
It’s escalated since the 2020 presidential election with former President Trump’s delusional, incessant and thoroughly debunked claims of a “stolen” election and the investigation into his culpability in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection.
And we still have the mid-term election cycle to look forward to, which in Wyoming will be dominated by the Republican brawl between incumbent U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney and Trump-backed Harriet Hageman. Add pressure at all levels to change election laws and impact voter turnout, and there’s plenty of political insanity ahead.
People have deep, personal beliefs that are reflected (or not) by their elected representatives. Add on social media platforms and it’s easy to get caught up in a whirlwind of nonstop, emotional rhetoric.
An essay titled “The Crossroads of Mental Health and Politics” published by Vantage Point Behavior Health and Trauma Healing (vantagepointrecovery.com) sums up what this does to us.
“You log on, you feel your heart rate increase, you can feel yourself getting defensive and your mind starts racing trying to find the right response to that so-called friend who just insulted your favorite politician. The comment was made on social media and your first instinct is to unfriend that person right away.”
After allowing those feelings to roil all day, by the time you finally unwind many hours later, “you realize you have been stressed out all day over a comment someone posted online. You feel almost embarrassed that you let your emotions control your day.”
No matter your politics, whether you’re Republican or Democrat, it’s apparent we’re at our wit’s end when it comes to local and national politics. We no longer have any patience for opinions other that those that align with our own, and those who aren’t in lockstep with our beliefs deserve an aggressive response.
Pre-pandemic, if I’d heard someone use the term “political exhaustion,” I would have dismissed that out of hand as a cop-out. Instead of facing a problem or an opposing view, claiming you can’t mentally deal with it is not the way to go through life or solve anything. So I thought.
Political exhaustion makes us more susceptible to emotions that, under normal circumstances, we would handle much better. Fear, anger and what Vantage Point calls “voter emotions” can “incite people to act out of irrational thoughts. This can be dangerous.”
Something the essay doesn’t address, however, is how political saturation in our everyday lives contributes to this exhaustion. At a basic level, it makes sense that too much exposure to a thing can ultimately be destructive. As with anything else in life, sometimes you just need a break.
But more than two years into COVID-19 there has been no break. Not only do we have emotionally charged and contentious local and national elections, the pandemic itself quickly evolved into its own political hot-button issue.
But what do we do about it, and how do we handle our own political exhaustion? My limit came recently when I realized my routine has evolved (devolved?) into some level of political saturation from the time I wake up until I go to sleep.
We need break. Like casual Fridays are a way to let your hair down a little in the workplace, I propose “Politics Free Fridays” — one day where we make it our mission in life to get away from it altogether.
If you can’t look at Facebook without getting drawn in, then no Facebook. Don’t read about it, talk about it over the backyard fence or listen to political talk radio. Surely the nonstop, 24/7 cycle of rhetoric can do without your participation for one day.
And don’t delude yourself — taking your voice and attention out of the mix for a day isn’t going to turn the tide one way or another. It also probably won’t do much to plug the political vitriol threatening to break through at any time.
But it could help your own sanity, having that one day to recharge and be more mentally prepared for another week of political overload.
