TIPS: How to manage post-election stress
Feeling stressed about the elections?
Our emotions tend to go haywire every election cycle, regardless of our camp. We see political divide and rants on social media, and the results getting close to being finalized by the hour.
Depending on the outcome, we feel a sense of triumph or sorrow. While glimmers of hope exist, there are some who could feel the latter more.
How do we even overcome the distress we feel over something so out of our control? Here are some tips from Randy Kenjie Podador, a licensed well-being coach and psychometrician, and Marion Abilene Navarro, an instructor at the University of the Philippines Manila’s Department of Behavioral Sciences.
Acknowledge that this is a personal loss for you, too
“When we vote, we are not just choosing a leader. We are also expressing our values, hopes, [and] our frustrations,” Podador says. “When the outcome doesn’t align with what someone hoped for, the loss can feel deeply personal as well.”
Navarro adds that the loss can feel bigger when personal stakes are high. “For example, may tangible material na inaasahan [‘yung botante] after the election—pinangakuan ka ng bahay, or trabaho.”
It also happens when voters have invested so many resources, like time and money, in campaigning for their chosen candidates. Navarro recounts the 2022 presidential elections, where many voters, particularly young ones, joined campaign rallies and participated in political expression for the first time. The illusion of hope and strong numbers was then shattered when their chosen candidate lost. There was a painful reckoning that what they did was not enough. “Parang first time mong mag-jowa, tapos nag-break kayo,” Navarro says.
Podador agrees: “It can feel like your voice wasn’t heard, your effort didn’t matter, or your values were deeply dismissed.”
There is power in naming what you feel
Our first response is often panic, followed by “a mix of exhaustion, confusion, and a vague but persistent emotional ache,” according to Podador. After the 2022 elections, he witnessed “kinds of distress that didn’t quite fit into neat categories like sadness or anger.”
Both Podador and Navarro describes this post-election dread as mass disillusionment. Navarro, who actively campaigned for this year’s elections, observes that it was less vibrant than in 2022. “Maraming tao ang na-dishearten. Maraming nagsabi sa’kin na ayaw na nila mag-invest as much [in this year’s elections], kasi kapag natalo, grabe rin ‘yung emotional burden for them.”
This “collective disenchantment,” Podador says, is deeper than disappointment. “[It’s] the emotional and psychological fatigue that comes from believing so deeply in a vision of change, only to see that vision seemingly disregarded by the majority.”
“It’s a kind of grief, but also a crisis of trust in the system, in other people, and sometimes in one’s personal sense of agency.”
Not understanding what exactly we feel can aggravate our anxieties. Having a name for our previously indescribable emotion gives a sense of clarity that enables us to fully process where it’s coming from, and what we can do to move forward.
Differentiate between acceptance and resignation
Sitting with our feelings is an important step in the process. “Allow yourself to feel what you’re feeling without minimizing or rationalizing it,” says Podador. “These emotions are valid and deserve space.”
Navarro warns, however, that acceptance should not lead to resignation. “Hindi sana humantong [sa point] na hindi na [tayo] magpaparticipate ulit,” she says.
Aside from mass disillusionment, distressed voters can also fall into “mass learned helplessness,” where unfavorable results in one election make us believe the succeeding elections will not be in our favor either. “Inuunahan na [tayo] ng pagiging anxious about the outcome,” Navarro explains.
She asserts that in these instances, it is all the more crucial to still have hope. Beyond wishing for our chosen candidates to win, we must also recognize the importance of exercising our right to vote and letting our voice be heard, no matter how seemingly small.
“[Kapag] tumigil ka, ‘yung forces ng kabilang camps, hindi tumitigil. Kaya makikita mo ngayon, ‘yung mga nasa disinformation architecture, ginagamit ‘yung disillusionment and resignation natin.” Social media trolls, Navarro says, often hurl insults like, “Bakit tumatakbo pa ‘yan, talunan naman?” to losing candidates. “Ginagamit nila ‘yung [resignation] as capital to keep people from participating again, which is what we don’t want. Kapag nangyari ‘yon, lagi na talaga tayong matatalo.”
Lean on your support system
“Mahalaga na may kasama ka at may collective care na nangyayari sa spaces kung saan ka kabilang,” Navarro says.
Podador adds that processing what we feel together can make us feel less isolated. “Talk to others who share your concerns, not to stoke the fire of frustration but to find solidarity and mutual understanding.”
Avoid making your world smaller
In a research paper by Allan B.I. Bernardo and Peejay Bengwasan, published after the 2022 elections, many voters said that conflicts with relatives about who they voted for contributed to their post-election stress. Family members, for instance, dismissed their disappointment and urged them to support the winning candidate instead.
While it can be tempting to simply cut off people in our lives with opposing political beliefs, this achieves nothing but amplifies our already massive social fractures. “Hindi natin maseseparate ang political beliefs sa personal identity natin, pero marami pang ibang spheres kung saan umiikot ang identity,” Navarro says. “Pwede nating tignan ‘yung situational factors kung bakit ‘yun ang binoto nila.”
Voters may cut people off for reasons like personal safety and peace of mind – there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s also definitely okay to distance ourselves from people who stress us out. What’s useful to remember in the long run, though, is that staying in our own echo chambers will not bring us closer to the successful nation we dream of. People are never as black and white as inflamed online discourse leads us to think – at the end of the day, most of us, regardless of whose name we shaded on the ballot, voted for who we believe will make our lives better.
Celebrate wins, no matter how small
Change is never achieved overnight but from a series of small but unrelenting steps. While not all our candidates of choice may have made it, there are lots to be celebrated, still. Over 3.6 million more Filipinos registered to vote for the 2025 midterm elections. What if this year’s pleasant surprises lead to more change—or more voters—come the 2028 polls?
Podador reminds us that unfavorable election outcomes are not a dead end, “but part of a longer and ongoing process of civic engagement.”
Keep going—but never forget how you felt
When the results of the elections are finalized, Podador says it's important to remember that our role in the society is not. “Find small but meaningful ways to stay involved, whether [by] educating others, supporting local causes, or simply staying informed,” he says.
He continues, “With time, reflection, and healing, these feelings can transform into a source of strength and an important reminder of what we care about and why we choose to keep showing up.”
“Lahat naman ng changes sa society through the years, nagsisimula sa feelings of distress and [our] collective memory [of it]. Gamitin natin ‘yung distress as a springboard for action instead of collective depression,” Navarro adds.
