So You're Feeling Hopeless After The General Election...
Photo taken in Shakespeare & Co in Paris, 2018. A reminder that we all need going into 2020.
The General Election has happened. The Tories gained a huge majority. It’s shit. It’s disappointing. It’s scary. You’re probably feeling hopeless about the state of the country, of the world even. But wallowing in this hopelessness is not productive in any shape or form, for yourself or for the bettering of the world.
What is productive is fostering the hope you’ve been feeling over the last month in the run up to the General Election at the prospect of a better, more equal country and using it to creative positive change. The General Election may be over, but the world is not and there are so many things you can do to make the world a better place, even if the ruling party choose not to.
Hang on to the issues you care so deeply about, whatever has struck a chord for you during this election, whether that’s the NHS, the climate crisis, homelessness or whatever else. Find charities and campaigns that are championing these issues and become a part of them. Becoming a part of something you believe in, in which you can see clear change happening as a result of your actions is so rewarding and will turn at least some of your feelings of hopelessness into optimism. And although the prospect of the Tories being in power for another 5 years is daunting, this is 5 years in which you can campaign for whatever political party you believe in, rather than just doing so a couple of months before the election which is not as effective both because of the tension people are feeling and the limited time.
You can do this with your time or money, whatever works best for you but I would add that giving up your time is especially rewarding. However considering there’s only 12 days till Christmas (at least that was always going to be a silver lining after the election), consider giving charitable gifts this year, whether it’s donating to a charity of your choosing on someone else’s behalf, or buying a gift from the ChooseLove store for someone (I particularly love this idea).
What is key here is actually making change happen. Although social media seems like a great platform for activism at times, especially if you have a large follower count, it can be superficial and have little effect on the world, which can be frustrating. Whilst being out in the real world, making change through your actions has the opposite effect and is deeply fulfilling.
The connections you can make campaigning in real life are also often so much more sincere and impactful than those you can make through social media too. This is largely because social media is somewhat of an echo chamber for most of us, in which we only see our own left-wing views repeated back because, of course, we don’t want to follow people we disagree with.
I think the social media echo chamber is a significant reason why the General Election results might feel so devastating to many young people because it’s easy to be fooled by the 700 people you’re following that everyone thinks about the world in the same way you do, forgetting that there are over 66 million people living in the UK with incredibly diverse views.
This floored me during the past election and particularly during the EU referendum, as, although I was too young to vote in it, it initiated my interest in politics. But the politics I was interested in and thus surrounded myself with, were left-wing and pro-EU and thus, I was devastated by the result of the referendum. Whereas in this election, by staying informed as much as I could on what’s going on in the real world, the shock was minimised and my mental health has not been affected to such an extent.
Now I’m not advising be-friending Tories or filling your Twitter feed with opinions you disagree with. Instead, just gain an awareness. Read newspapers whose political leaning might be a little more right-leaning than your own, or at least be aware of what they’re saying. Talk to people who aren’t just your closest friendship group. Don’t immediately close off a conversation with someone just because their views are more right-wing than yours. By any means, you don’t need to be uber-polite to them. But at least engage in the conversation, if only to affirm that the politics you believe in are the ones you want to champion.
This awareness is not only necessary to advance any sort of left-wing politics (as the divisiveness we create in staying in our own bubble and shouting at anyone who might disagree with us is deeply harmful) but also to protect your personal mental health because being overly-optimistic unfortunately often leads to disappointment and despair. Although I am deeply saddened by the results of the General Election, by staying informed, it’s not far from what I expected. And for me, being able to prevent such despair is critical to my mental health.
Photo by @badasscrossstitch on Instagram
Finally, stay off social media as much as possible for the next few weeks. It’s going to be a site of tension, divisiveness and anger and it’s not a positive space in any sense, neither for your mental health or for creating a better world. Spend your time, instead, educating yourself, volunteering, becoming an activist, with your loved ones, with yourself and maybe even with your counsellor.
Because it’s absolutely okay if you do feel devastated by the result of the General Election. It’s okay if you think it’s triggered some of your mental health issues. Some might see it as ‘just politics’, but for many this General Election came with so much hope for the future and Thursday night’s exit poll probably felt like that broke down entirely. However, the world is not ending and there are so many ways we can make it a better place, but before you can do so, you have to ensure you’re in a good place. Although do consider doing both at the same time. Volunteering and activism can be an incredible way to feel fulfilled and improve your mental health, giving your able to do so, alongside whatever else you might need to stay healthy, including medication and counselling.
There is so much to be anxious about as we enter 2020 and this Tory government is certainly part of that, especially for vulnerable people in society. But lets channel our despair and fear into making a better country and a better world and lets use our time, money, voices- our privilege in whatever form it takes, to protect those who are truly vulnerable and to fight for what we care about.
I Want To Be Politically Engaged But I Also Want To Breathe| How I’m Approaching Politics in 2019
I am a naturally inquisitive and empathetic person. I feel most excited and fulfilled when learning new things and discussing important and progressive ideas. Politics energises me, but it also exhausts me.
I’m writing this on the eve of the 2019 General Election, of which I have become consumed with. It’s the first time I’ve felt exhilarated by British politics in years. But I’m also anxious. I’m angry. I’m overwhelmed. I can’t sleep because I’ve spent the entirety of all my days over the past month, especially the parts in which I’m supposed to be relaxing, reading and watching videos about the upcoming election. I’ve even been out posting leaflets for my local Labour party in an effort to do something that isn’t just shouting into the echo chamber that is social media. And I want to do this! I am choosing to do this!
But to understand what is going on in the world and to attempt to do something about it, for me, is all-consuming. I can’t draw the line between being involved in politics and maintaining my mental health. The injustice that I witness in staying so insistently informed stays with me, after closing tabs and deleting apps and turning the lights off to go to bed. It permeates my thoughts and my speech, as I struggle to partake in a conversation without slipping into talking about politics and the current state of the world. It even permeates my body, as my anxiety is so intrinsically linked to my physical health, and can often render me physically sick.
But I’m not writing this post in an attempt to gain sympathy. I imagine a great deal of people feel this way and that is why so many people remain apolitical. But as Grace Beverley put, a woman who is using her platform for so many fantastic causes, and as many have reiterated: ‘being apolitical in itself is a political act, and in fact an inherently selfish one.’ And to be able to be apolitical is a privilege, as that means that you’re lucky enough to be in a position where politics doesn’t directly negatively impact your life, as it does for so many POC, the LGBTQ+ community, people living in austerity and an endless amount of other groups of people.
So for me, to remove politics out of my life is not an option, and I think the guilt this would cause would be unbearable. Over the past couple of years to try and balance the overwhelm politics has caused me, I’ve tried to stay less informed. Whilst I’ve still generally understood what’s going on in the world, mostly the Western world, I’m embarrassed to admit, and in politics, I’ve attempted to distance myself from it. But as I mentioned earlier, I’m an inquisitive and empathetic person who wants to feel connected. To read a short BBC summary of an event in order to ensure I’m basically informed is so unfulfilling and frustrating for me, even if it does mean I can fall asleep within an hour of putting my head on the pillow. I want to stay informed and I want to fight injustice and this general election has reminded me of that.
To be able to do so without it affecting my mental and physical health quite so negatively will be a challenge. But it’s a challenge that I really believe in. And as someone who lives with a huge amount of privilege and is lucky enough to have the option to remain apolitical, I think it would be unbelievably selfish and individualistic for me to do so. And politics that advantage the individual over society are not the types of politics I believe in.
I am painfully cynical about the result of today’s General Election because cynicism is most definitely a coping mechanism I use to shield myself from disappointment, which I fear so much, especially for an election which is as critical as this one.
But I am also hopeful and when I cross the Labour box at my polling station today, I will do so with a hopefulness that there are people who want the same world that I do and who are fighting tirelessly in order for it to materialise.
Politics can make you feel hopeless and isolated but know that your democratic right to vote today is an opportunity for agency and one that we must all take. It’s empowering and even if everything else about the current state of politics makes you despair, this is your chance make your claim on how you want the world to be, and you MUST use it!
I’ve told myself that I won’t be staying up to watch the election results be counted but it’s very likely that I’ll still be up at 3am tonight, probably having bitten off my entire fingernails with anxiety. It’s not good for my health (or my Christmas manicure) but it’s good for my mind and my soul and frankly, it’s non-negotiable, because I naturally care and I am hopeful that caring can make the world a better place.
