How To Deal With News-Related Anxiety Fast

Daily news has grown to become a hard pill to swallow.

Between climate change melting the icecaps and the General Election's omnipresent roaring, the chaos that has been the past few months has been enough to allow anyone to feel unhinged.

The American Psychological Association conducted a survey of thousands of Americans to measure their stress levels during the divisive and tormenting 2016 elections.

Overall, 52 per cent of adults said the election was a source of stress, and that number was more or less equal between Republicans and Democrats and between men and women.

People older than 71 felt the most stress, followed by millennials.

Perhaps the high proportion of stress among young people comes from constantly refreshing Facebook since 54 per cent of adults who use social media said the election was stressing them out.

Here's what the American Psychological Association recommends to keep your stress at bay during trying news cycles.

Turn off your computer. Power down your phone and shut off your TV, too. Read just enough to stay informed, then go for a walk or spend time with your friends.

Forbid your friends from talking about politics. Do you have that one friend or family member who just loves playing devil's advocate and getting into fights about the election? Avoid that guy for a while, and be mindful of how often you're talking about politics with people around you.

Turn your anxiety into something productive. For example, if climate anxiety is getting you down, donate to any number of organisations looking to make a change.

Remember: We've been through rough elections before. Avoid catastrophising and maintain a balanced perspective. Even if Brexit goes terribly, worse things have happened before and we've been alright. The goal is to look after number one and believe that the right thing will happen for the right time.

If you or someone you know is suffering from mental health issues, there is help available: