By , Alison Mango
Published October 18, 2016
The presidential election dominates the news cycle for several months once every four years—but if 2016's intensely hostile contest has left you feeling more anxious than usual, you're far from alone. In a survey released Thursday by the American Psychological Association (APA), 52 percent of American adults report the election as a significant source of stress in their lives.
The findings are part of the APA's Stress in America Survey, an online Harris Poll of 3,511 adults living in the U.S. It's conducted annually to examine how stress affects the health and well-being of American adults. The Washington Post reports that the APA included a question in the annual survey about the election, and released those results early.
According to the survey, men and women are equally likely to be feeling election-related anxiety. And it turns out that this type of stress is bipartisan: 59 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Democrats say they have it.
RELATED: 12 Signs You May Have an Anxiety Disorder
Age, however, does seem to play a factor. Millennials and people 71 or older are more likely to say the election is a significant source of stress than Baby Boomers and Gen X'ers. The survey also found that people who report that the election is a source of stress have a higher overall stress level than those who don't find the election stressful.
There are some steps you can take to ease your election anxiety, the APA says. First of all, maybe consider taking a social media vacation (check out our guide to quitting Facebook). Survey respondents who use social media were more likely to be stressed out by the election than those who steer clear of Facebook, Twitter, and the like.
“Election stress becomes exacerbated by arguments, stories, images and video on social media that can heighten concern and frustration, particularly with thousands of comments that can range from factual to hostile or even inflammatory,” said Lynn Bufka, PhD, APA’s associate executive director for practice research and policy, in a press release.
RELATED: 13 Ways to Beat Stress in 15 Minutes or Less
Here are five more tips from the APA to make it to November 8 unscathed:
RELATED: 17 Surprising Reasons You're Stressed Out
This article originally appeared on Health.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/health/6-ways-to-manage-election-stress