Coping With Election Grief

Those who did not vote for Donald Trump are likely experiencing election grief.

Following the results of the contentious 2024 U.S. election, which was decisively won by Donald Trump, some 70 million Americans – along with others around the world – are left to grieve what many perceive to be a devastating loss. Psychologists and other experts say this grief is real, and needs to be acknowledged and processed by those who are experiencing it.

Pauline Boss, a former psychotherapist and professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, uses the term “ambiguous loss” to describe circumstances or events that leave us with an intangible sense of grief, such as the loss of a sense of safety during the Covid-19 pandemic. A similar term, coined by Ken Doka, identifies grief that is not socially accepted or openly mourned as “disenfranchised grief.”

“Now we have a kind of loss that I think is causing some grief for people who wanted a different outcome of this election,” Boss told Scientific American. “It’s really quite important to understand this feeling. It is a normal response if you’re in the middle of something you didn’t expect and you don’t like, and it came suddenly, unexpectedly.” Boss advocated normalizing the resulting feelings of anger and sadness, and making room for their expression.

Election grief is also a form of collective grief.

Those grieving the election results are also experiencing a form of collective grief, clinical psychologist Raquel Martin told Rolling Stone. “We experience traumatic events together, and this [election] results definitely brought fears and hurt and memories of what was previously, and concerns about it only being worse,” she said. “Collective grief is understandable when you feel as though you put your all into something and you see an outcome that is incredibly scary for you.”

Professor of Clinical Psychology Melissa Flint, who teaches at Midwestern University Glendale, noted that political grief is a “real thing” that can make people feel as though their morals and values are under attack. “When one struggles with a particular ideology held by those in power, there is grief,” she told Rolling Stone.

Experts note that election-related losses can include the loss of a hoped-for and imagined future, the emotional investment in such a vision, and anticipatory grief over what the future may hold. “Unlike grief for a past event, anticipatory grief is centered on future possibilities, which can create a lingering sense of unease and make it hard to find peace,” Michele Nealon, Psy.D. and president of The Chicago School, told SELF magazine.

Some methods of self-care during the grieving process include taking a walk, stopping to take some deep breaths, engaging in activities with friends, practicing gratitude, and avoiding an over-indulgence in political news or social media.

“Everyone needs regular practices to notice when stress is taking hold, and a [tool belt] of ways to deal with it,” stress management expert Dr. Cynthia Ackrill told CNN Health. “This includes habits of awareness, healthy ways to frame the challenges of life, tools to downshift the mental and physical effects, and ways to stay focused on how to thrive.”