Coping with the election results

Many voters have strong feelings this election, and may not know how to cope with the stress if their favored candidate loses.

Psychotherapist Lori Edelson from The Birmingham Maple Clinic says they've seen an increased number of patients talking about election stress, which isn't typical.

"They're very worried about whoever wins, how the rest of the country in the next four years is going to be for them," she says. "This whole election has been so unusual in terms of stress level, anger and vitriol and just the intense emotion that's being expressed every day."

Lori says it's very likely some people will experience short-term feelings of depression after the election results.

For those who have damaged relationships with family members over the election, she reminds us that even though the president is an important role, we come home to our family.

She also suggests that we all "unplug" a little bit.

"We are all way too consumed with the media, with tweets and with texts. We have to find 10 minutes a day to just detach from that and chill," she says.

She joined us on The Nine to give us some tips for coping with the election results. You can get see her tips below, and learn more by watching her interview with us in the video player above.

Dealing With Election Let-Down; short-term depression

  • Expect to experience disappointment
  • Remind yourself of the positives in our country
  • Put things into proper perspective
  • Implement relaxation techniques
  • Seek professional help

"When I say,' put it into proper perspective,' we have gone through elections before where there have been unfavorable outcomes for whoever voted for the one who lost, and we survived it," she says. "We do survive this. We also have to realize our government has three different branches. It's designed to be a stable government. One person doesn't come in and just wipe out the whole American democracy."

Coping With Election Results

  • In a democracy, we don't always get what we want
  • Election rhetoric is not always reality
  • Trust in the structure of our government
  • Reassess your own values
  • Whatever happens, life will go on