How Today's Politics Affect Mental Health

I don’t usually talk about politics. It’s just not something I particularly care for. I do my duty to this country by voting and I do my due diligence as a parent to keep myself informed. I believe I need to know what this world is showing my kids and what kind of world they are living in/will live in, in the future.

But I don’t talk about it publicly. I talk about it with a few close friends and family and that’s about it.

The sad fact of the matter is though, things have shifted. Drastically.

Why? Because our so-called leaders have decided to turn EVERY SINGLE thing into a political battle.

Like baby formula, BABY FORMULA!

Now I had already written a piece on my feelings about Abortion rights, aka, women’s rights. Still, I never got around to posting it because a day after writing it, a RACIALLY MOTIVATED shooting occurred in Buffalo, NY.

It seems we can’t get away from all the fucked up bullshit happening right now in the U.S.

Between the banning of books, and making a law that declares parents of trans kids abusive, Asian people getting beat up in the streets over COVID - Masks! - and all of the shootings that keep happening, seriously, it’s a wonder I haven’t had a full-blown panic attack by now.

How many people out there feel this way? I know I’m not the only one.

None of this should be political. NONE OF IT! But the people we elected to make the right decisions for our country have consistently, pretty much declared war on this country simply by declaring war on each other, i.e., our democracy.

They are so busy just trying to one-up each other and fighting each other that we, the people, no longer matter. It no longer matters to them what right and wrong are. Doing the right thing has jumped ship and we are stuck with these incredibly immature, power-hungry, corrupt assholes whose only goal is to make the other side suffer.

We have one party who has gone completely to the dark side and lost their ever-lovin' minds and the other party who puts the blame - and the responsibility - squarely on the voters while taking no accountability and consistently refusing to use the power that they have to make things right and get shit done.

One side is far too aggressive and the other side isn’t aggressive enough.

This isn’t what I was taught a democratic government should be. Yet, I’m not really that surprised. This has been coming for a long, long time.

So How Is This Affecting Mental Health?

I don’t know about you but this definitely has been affecting my mental health. I can still function but not completely. I have been lacking the motivation to do things I love to do. Like streaming, writing, and such.

My brain feels scattered and I feel both restless and helpless. This is not a good place to be. I have low energy and now my body is feeling some of the effects. I haven’t been feeling well physically. Normally, I would chalk that up to Springtime colds and allergies but it’s more than that.

I feel as though I had stepped through a portal of some kind a few years ago and am now stuck in the twilight zone. Nothing feels right - or real. It’s weird to say that because logically, I know it is real, and yet, it feels… Surreal.

Does anyone else feel this way?

When a person’s mind is struggling, the body can struggle too. Both the mind and body work as a whole unit. So when one isn’t doing so well, the other starts to feel it too.

I can’t even process most of what is going on in our society because just as I am processing one thing, something else happens and it starts all over again. Something has to give here.

We can’t keep living like this.

I do have some things that I can do to help alleviate some stress and worry but what about others? Some people simply don’t have the luxury to stop and relax by doing something to help alleviate their stress.

I don’t have any answers here.

I really wish I did.

Thanks so much for reading!