How to Sleep When You’re Riddled With Election Anxiety

Everyday anxiety can lead to sleepless nights—so ratchet that up to existential fear about the future of democracy, and it’s probably safe to assume you’re not going to get much shuteye on Election Night.

According to a recent American Psychological Association survey, 25% of adults have already lost sleep over the U.S. presidential election, even before it skidded into its feverish final hours. Experts report hearing pretty much the same. “I see nine clients a day, and the election comes up in six of those sessions,” says Alex Banta, a therapist in Columbus, Ohio. “It’s been on everyone’s minds, and it’s completely normal to struggle with sleep leading up to such a big election.”

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Of course, when we don’t get much sleep, we’re prone to heightened feelings of stress, anxiety, and crankiness. “Any time we lose sleep, we lose emotional resilience,” Banta says. “We all have an ability to maintain and control our emotions, and if you don’t get sleep, that’s going to negatively impact that resource.” Sleep is a refresher; it’s how we clear our minds and process the day’s events. And that will be essential in the aftermath of the election, especially if things don’t go the way you hoped for your favorite candidate.

With that in mind, we asked experts to share their best tips for squeezing in some Zs when you’re anxious.

Schedule “worry time”

Sometime during the evening, before you go to bed, set a timer for 5 minutes—and consider it permission to freak out to the max. Let in every fear, worst-case scenario, and doubt. The key, Banta says, is that you can’t actually be in bed. She usually gets her “worry time” out of the way while she’s driving or on a walk. “The thing that has to happen at the end is what we call a state change, which means you’re physically putting your body somewhere else to signal to your brain that you’re done with that space,” she says. That way, when you get out of the car or come back inside, “it signals to your brain and body that you’ve done that work,” she says. “You’ve honored those thoughts and fears, and you’re now moving on.” In her experience, when you actually do climb into bed, you’ll be much more likely to doze off quickly.

Stick to your normal routine

If you typically go to bed at 11 p.m., you might give yourself a little leeway and stay up until 11:30 tonight. But as much as possible, treat it like any other Tuesday night and stay consistent, urges Cali Bahrenfuss, a clinical sleep health educator who owns Delta Sleep Coaching in Sioux Falls, S.D. Otherwise, if you keep pushing it off, “it’s going to be easy to stay up until midnight, and that could turn into 3, 4, or 5,” she says. Especially considering we might not immediately know the results of the election, there’s no use setting yourself up to be exhausted—and, as a result, even more emotionally fragile—the next day.

Put your phone on “do not disturb” mode

Before getting into bed, detach yourself from the device you’ve been glued to all day. In addition to employing “do not disturb” mode—which ensures you won’t be bothered by incoming texts or calls—consider moving your phone to another room altogether. Otherwise, you’ll likely be inundated with an endless stream of texts from the family group chat and notifications from social-media platforms. As Banta puts it: “Did you hear this? Did you see this?” “And in reality,” she adds, “you have no control over the outcome. The winner is going to be announced when they’re announced, so preserve your peace in the interim.”

Write down your thoughts

While you can’t change the final outcome of the election, you can change your thoughts, says Renee Carr, a Washington, D.C.-based psychologist who hosts the Politics & Psychology podcast. If you’re struggling to fall asleep, she suggests writing down whatever is cycling through your brain on repeat. By doing so, “you’re giving your mind a release,” she says. It will no longer feel like it has to cling to those insidious fear-based thoughts.

For each anxious thought you write down, Carr challenges, log another that’s more positive and hopeful. For example: “The smell of coffee when I get up will remind me I’m alive for another day.” This is important because when you imagine the worst, “your mind stays alert trying to think of a solution to keep you safe and help you survive,” she says. “That’s why you can’t go to sleep.” By balancing those thoughts with happier notions, you’ll temper your body’s stress-response system and become more relaxed, entering a restful—rather than fearful—state.

Reflect on what you’re grateful for

It can be hard to slow your brain down at night, even in the best of times, Bahrenfuss acknowledges. One way to ease the anxiety and return to a more relaxed state is to think of things you’re grateful for that have absolutely nothing to do with the election, but are more personal in nature. “Start small and be thankful for the air you breathe, the warm bed you’re laying in, the food you had for dinner, the friends who keep you company, the family who love you unconditionally,” she says. Maybe you have a new grandson—think about how cute he looked in his Halloween costume, and you might find you’re smiling for the first time all day. Focusing on gratitude “changes your mindset from a negative space to a more positive space,” which helps facilitate sound sleep, Bahrenfuss says.

Utilize visualization tools

If you wake up at 3 a.m., paralyzed with anxiety, resist the temptation to reach for your phone. “It’s going to wake up your brain and say, ‘Oh, it’s go time. We’re collecting data again,’” Banta says. Instead, try to soothe yourself back to sleep by visualizing something calming, like leaves floating down a stream or bubbles blowing through the air on a summer day. Some of her clients like imagining a train full of bad thoughts pulling into a station—and reminding themselves that they don’t have to get on that train. They can choose to watch it leave, taking its cars full of worries with it. “You can gently let the thoughts come and go,” she says. “Observe them, and allow them to pass.”

Seek out mindless entertainment

It might sound ludicrous to turn away from the news and read a lighthearted book or watch a silly movie while election results are rolling in—but you’d be doing yourself a favor. Bahrenfuss thinks of it as redirecting your thoughts into a more positive space, which can help you feel relaxed and allow sleep to happen more naturally. In this case, she says, a distraction is worth the late-night screen time, which she would usually shy away from. “I think it’s OK in situations like this to break the rules a little bit,” she says. “I’d rather somebody turn on their favorite episode of Seinfeld and relax than continue to sit there in their misery and let their brain go down that worry hole for hours and hours.”