Suffering from Political Traumatic Stress Disorder? Buddhist wisdom on how to step back.

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Many people are suffering from political stress. It seems never ending. I am not only talking about the upcoming US elections, although they’re an obvious stressor for many. When I wrote an article recently about Politicians you loathe, Buddhist wisdom on letting go, some readers assumed I was writing about Donald Trump! Which I wasn’t. Specifically. Leaders in recent European, South African and UK elections, whether left-leaning or right, are equally loathed in their own countries. The scope of political trauma extends way beyond USA.

I don’t want to trivialise clinically diagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If I have created a somewhat whimsical alternative for the acronym, and try to keep my tone upbeat, it’s from a wish to draw readers away from the dark. But PTSD and Political Traumatic Stress Disorder share a significant hallmark: if we wish to be free from stress, we can’t expect a solution from outside ourselves. Not from political events. And certainly not from the media.

As much as we may hope, external outcomes, like ‘the correct’ election result, do not hold the key to our salvation. Even when contentious leaders are removed from power, or fail to gain it, the people and causes that gave rise to them are still there. Their alternative’s performance may be deeply disappointing. And what we deem important may be rapidly side-lined by unexpected global events.

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The symptoms of Political Traumatic Stress Disorder

1. Anxiety over election outcomes: Every election cycle feels like life or death. You find yourself lying awake at night worrying, What if X wins? Will democracy even survive? It’s not just a passing concern—it’s that tightening in your chest every time a political ad comes on.

2. Fear of political disasters: You’ve developed a bleakly depressing vision of the future. The prospect of a political outcome you despise haunts you. You’re convinced that if that particular candidate takes office, the country as you know it will change irreversibly. Or that if the current government continues in office for another term, the damage will be permanent.

3. Hypervigilance on social media: You can’t stop doom-scrolling. Every post, tweet, and news headline feels like more evidence that things are spiralling out of control. You’re constantly on edge, bracing for the next piece of bad news.

4. Emotional outbursts: Even minor political discussions with friends or colleagues can trigger extreme reactions—sweaty palms, elevated heart rates, or the need to leave the room before you explode.

5. Desensitisation: Alternately, you might find yourself shutting down completely. It’s too much. You begin withdrawing from political conversations and avoiding the news altogether because the sheer weight of it leaves you feeling emotionally depleted.

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The cause

It’s challenging to accept that our responses are anything other than objective. We may wonder why others who are broadly of the same view as us, aren’t as concerned, anxious, alarmed or outraged as we are.  As for the other side, we may question their intelligence, decency fairness, capacity, and all manner of other attributes.

We may be convinced that the causes of our stress are external, but from a Buddhist perspective, they are coming from our own minds. Those of us traumatised by politics need to take ownership of our feelings and the role we have in creating them, rather than putting the blame on the person or party ‘out there.’ Others may encourage us to be outraged, but we would do well to remember that outrage and feelings of vengefulness are like drinking poison and hoping someone else gets sick. The other side will almost certainly be unaware of our feelings. The only one we hurt is ourselves.

We are the creators of our own unhappiness. It is possible to inhabit the same reality without so much emotion – other people do. By better managing what we give our precious attention to, as well as by reducing our overall emotional temperature a few notches, we will not only experience more equanimity and wellbeing, we will be a whole lot more effective too.

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The treatment

1. Meditating: A regular meditation practice is highly effective for managing stress and enhancing our peace of mind. By learning to focus on just one thing, and let go of distractions, we are not only calmer for the duration of the meditation session. Like a regular gym routine, we feel the benefits throughout the day. I have written a lot more about this here. https://davidmichie.substack.com/p/why-meditate-six-good-reasons-and

2. Spending time in nature: If you feel that even 10 minutes of meditation a day is too big of an ask right now, how about mindful walking in nature? Perhaps in a nearby park, square or garden. While so doing, make a deliberate effort to let go of your usual thoughts and be present to whatever is happening in the natural world.

3. Having a temporary news fast: As a short term, acute measure, a temporary news fast may be a great idea. Giving ourselves a set amount of time away from social media and news channels can help us recalibrate our emotional baseline. That means no TV, radio or social media news for a few days. Personally, I am always surprised how little I have to catch up on, as and when I tune back in after time away - such as on a recent meditation retreat. There’s a lot of emotionally-charged heat and bluster about very little that is truly important. You may enjoy how you feel so much after the fast, that you decide to continue it!

4. Managing news feeds: quality and quantity: It helps to be highly selective about where we get our political news from, avoiding the most sensationalist, emotionally-provocative channels. Many news channels and influencers attract audiences for their advertisers by deliberately playing on drama. They toy with our emotions to make money. We shouldn’t be mugs. We are what we pay attention to as much as we are what we eat. The portion sizes of news we allow ourselves is also important. Supersize portions are every bit as debilitating as their calorie-laden equivalents in dietary terms. Smaller, healthy news portions is best.

5. Turning down the reactivity: When our hopes are raised or dashed according to every latest opinion poll or new development from the frontline, we become emotionally exhausted. A Chinese folk tale about a lost horse offers the classic antidote:

   An old man loses his horse to the wild. When his fellow villagers come around wailing and commiserating, he just says stoically, ‘We’ll see.’

   Days later his horse returns along with a few wild horse friends he picked up along the way. Horses are a measure of wealth and the man is now richer by several horses. The villagers come round delighted for him – if somewhat envious. He just says, ‘We’ll see.’

   Attempting to ride one of the wild horses, his son is thrown off and breaks his leg. It is harvest time and everyone is needed to help in the fields. The villagers wring their hands, despondently. ‘We’ll see,’ the old man tells them.

   The imperial army comes around recruiting able-bodied young men. His son is exempt. And so on it goes …

   We never know what’s around the corner. What we interpret as good news one day can turn out to be the opposite. Better not to make more of things than they merit, to concretise ideas and see patterns that don’t exist. Better to adopt a ‘we’ll see’ attitude. Write “We’ll see’ on a Post It and stick it on the fridge!

6. Focusing on what is in our control: Part of our emotional stress arises from frustration – we are helpless to do much. Even if we choose to be politically active, we are dealing with dynamics well beyond our sway. Better to zoom out from national politics and zoom in on our local community or the things we can directly change.

   Volunteering or engaging in grassroots activism can remind us that our voice and actions do have a major impact on an immediate level – like the collective efforts of our little Substack group to help vulnerable people and animals in Zimbabwe. Our paying subscribers have had a massive impact on a surprising number of beings, human and animal. Don’t lose sight of it.

7. Tonglen for “the other side’: If you are willing to go all the way with your treatment, how about imagining what it’s like to be on the other side? Walking a mile in the moccasins of people who really believe that the other candidate is their only hope.

   Last week I shared the practice of Tonglen where we visualise receiving suffering and its causes and giving happiness and its causes. The idea of doing this for a political opponent is confronting. But what if we could remove the true causes of what we find so appalling about him or her? Such as their own childhood damage and trauma. What if we could give them all they needed to wake up each day with only the best interests of the nation in their heart? Wouldn’t that be a whole lot better than where we are now?

   The purpose of Tonglen is not to magically change external reality, but to effect fundamental shift where the work most needs to happen - in our own mind.

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Summary

To wrap it up: whether we’re feeling politically traumatised or just trying to keep up with the ever-changing landscape, we're all in this rollercoaster together. So, buckle up, breathe, and remember, democracy may be messy, but it’s better than the alternative. Let's keep settling our minds, widening our vision, actively managing the news we consume, and making room for hope, humour, and perhaps a little healthy scepticism.

Maybe the world is going to hell in a handcart. Maybe this is the darkest hour before dawn. We’ll see.

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I have just returned from a one week retreat at the Tibetan Buddhist Society guided by our extraordinary teacher, Les Sheehy. Some of my Dharma brothers and sisters have been meditating and doing retreats for over fifty years. During a break in the temple one day, I felt moved to write the following:

Worn, cloth-covered Dharma texts,

corners bent with use.

Once-crimson meditation cushions,

long ago faded to pink.

Silvering, crepey-skinned students,

sweet as nectar.

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An update from Sarah at Twala Trust, the animal sanctuary supported by paying subscribers to this page:

“This little girl was dumped at our gate today, tied to a tree, desperately ill from Parvo virus. We heard her yelping in terror as she realised her owner was abandoning her. She's only a puppy, she has little milk teeth - she should be carefree and playing and loved. Her owner didn't vaccinate her, her mum most likely wasn't vaccinated either. She's not a rural dog, she's a Schnauzer cross, someone paid for her but didn't care enough to pay for a vaccine. The shelters across Zimbabwe, and across the world are bursting with abandoned dogs, there is a Parvo virus outbreak here, and we are in economic free fall again. Please, please support your local rescue organisations - adopt a dog, donate, share a post, check in with the rescuers, because we're all exhausted and overwhelmed and our hearts are shattered.”

Sarah subsequently told us: “The puppy made it through the night and is on her way to the 24-hour vet surgery where she will get the very best care. We will keep you updated and we so appreciate the kindness and the support. To everyone who has donated, we are so grateful.”

We may be powerless in the tide of global events. But we are all-powerful in the attitudes we adopt, the mental habits we cultivate and how we help the vast majority of sentient beings who have even less agency than ourselves.