Metro Atlanta residents discuss political anxiety heading into final stretch of 2024 election

ATLANTA — There are just a handful of days left before the 2024 presidential election and metro Atlanta residents are all dealing with anxiety surrounding it in different ways.

Channel 2′s Linda Stouffer spoke to metro voters, and doctors, about anxiety, politics and ways to handle the stress.

It’s particularly visible across the metro Atlanta area with the polls so close to closing.

“I’m very anxious, I would love to know what the results are,” one voter told Stouffer.

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Another said different social media platforms have completely different stories about the election, making it hard to trust each one.

Even on television, political advertisements are impacting voters’ worries.

“I voted on day one because I was tired of thinking of it, tired of all of the commercials, tired of stressing about it,” a voter told Channel 2 Action News.

Stouffer spoke to two medical professionals, a doctor at Piedmont Hospital and a psychiatrist from Kaiser Permanente, who offered recommendations for how to manage your anxiety and take care of yourself and others during a tense election.

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“You need to take care of your sleep, you need to take care of your blood pressure and most importantly take care of the people who love you, regardless of whether they have different political viewpoints,” Dr. Saju Mathew, a primary care doctor at Piedmont, said.

Mathew encouraged patients to reach out for medical help and therapy if their anxiety gets to be too much.

“These are the kinds of issues that can disrupt your sleep, raise your blood pressure and can eventually lead to medical issues,” he said.

At Kaiser Permanente of Georgia, psychiatrist Dr. Lateefah Watford said people should feel comfortable removing themselves from conversations that make them anxious.

“It is absolutely okay to say, ‘I don’t want to talk about that,’ and remove yourself from a conversation that you feel is going to stress you out or is anxiety-provoking,” Watford told Channel 2 Action News.

Watford also suggested going outside to get some fresh air and focus on what it’s possible for you to change.

“If you’re in a situation that is stressful or anxiety-provoking, change it. Change the environment, change how you respond,” Watford said.

Like many things with the 2024 election, it’s important to realize what’s out of your control and what is. Both doctors suggested taking breaks from screens like phones, computers or televisions, and instead focusing on what’s in front of you here and now.

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