This therapist says people are grappling with 'political anxiety.' He shares ideas to cope

In more than 15 years of counseling, Joshua Johnson has helped clients through a lot of complex emotions.

But now more than ever, he says, nearly all of his clients are expressing some version of "political anxiety."

It’s a subsect encompassing all kinds of external uncertainties causing strife and, in many cases, depression. From gas prices and economic uncertainty, to the immediate danger of deportation, Johnson told me a lot of it stems from the fact that our politics are now one-in-one with our identity.

Full conversation

JOSHUA JOHNSON: It’s actually becoming quite common, especially since the last election. You know, we saw a lot of it prior to, so this is when households were splitting versus, like, who you're voting for. Such as, if you're voting for Kamala or you're voting for Trump.

You know, when that happened, that divide happened, I started seeing clients come in with different fears about, “Well, what do I do with my family member now that they're voting for Trump and I don't want to support them?” Right?

Or on the other side of it of, “They're voting for Kamala, like, and I don't want to — I don't support that.” You know, so that became the first divide. So I kind of call this as, like, a Phase 1, right?

And then Phase 2 started happening where I noticed where after Trump took office, people were worried about, “Oh my God, they're going to activate all these rules, Project 2025 — like, all these things are going to happen, like, overnight.”

And so people started kind of started freaking out. Some people were celebrating because, again, that's who they voted for and that's what they wanted was change.

And then on the other side, you start seeing people feeling like, “OK, well my goals were already struggling, now I don't see them happening at all.” So people are starting to regress, almost. Becoming more afraid to be outside, especially now that we're seeing ICE more present in, you know, public areas such as schools, airports, grocery stores, you know, stuff like that.

LAUREN GILGER: What’s Phase 3?

JOSHUA JOHNSON: Phase 3 is what we're currently in, which is, you know, isolation. Fear of the unknown. As well as when you see that your friends have changed, you know, they're like, “Well, what do I do with this? Because I love them. I've been — I had this friend for 20, 30-plus years,” for some people, or 10-plus years. “And now I'm noticing that this person doesn't support me as a person.”

Rather if it's because I'm a part of the LGBT — as I joke around, the LMNOP community — because it's changed so much over the years. Rather if it's from the color of my skin, rather if it's even my educational background. You know, those things I'm noticing as well that is happening. “Are you — do you feel safe? Do you feel that the person that you're even standing next to supports the same morals or causes than you do?” And that's becoming, you know, a problem, too, for most clients I'm seeing.

LAUREN GILGER: So it's hitting relationships, and it's almost this, like, existential question of, like, politics being linked to identity, it sounds like.

JOSHUA JOHNSON: Yep. Yep. Yep. That's something, too, that I'm noticing where a lot of people are feeling as if, like, you know, who I am has to be labeled by: I'm Black first, I'm a Christian first, maybe I'm then gay, then I'm a — you know, a Republican voter. You know, or it gets flipped around where: I'm a Republican voter first, then I'm a Black man, then I'm a Christian, then I identify as, you know, whatever my sexual orientation is.

LAUREN GILGER: It sounds like a lot of what people are telling you is in reaction to this flood of change, right? Like, traditional kind of norms being broken, and the sort of political upheaval that we've seen, and the divisiveness.

JOSHUA JOHNSON: Right. Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, and I think a lot of that has to go with, you know, hey, we used to have a rulebook, pretty much, America had, and, you know, things had to go in this certain order, and now, you know, things are getting bypassed. You know, so when that has occurred, it is hard to just feel safe in your own backyard.

LAUREN GILGER: So in some ways, my reaction to hearing all of this is, like, yeah, that makes sense. And in some ways I was thinking, like, you know, life has always been hard. Like, it's not like life was easy for our great-grandparents or the grandparents before them, right? Like, is it new in that sense, or is it just the way that we receive this information has changed a lot as well?

JOSHUA JOHNSON: I think it's a mixture of both. I think that now things are just so uncensored. It's a scary uncensoredness now. Like, you know, I remember the days when politics were boring.

LAUREN GILGER: Me, too.

JOSHUA JOHNSON: Like, you — like you heard, like, one or two things on the news once in a blue moon, but like, every day just feels like we're in a like an ongoing episode of "Scandal."

LAUREN GILGER: It feels like there's upheaval to people. I mean, do you think a lot of this has to do with not just the political change, like the pace of political change that we've seen, which has been rapid, but the rapid pace at which we receive it? Like the kind of onslaught of notifications and dings and updates and alerts and headlines, and they may or may not be true, right?

JOSHUA JOHNSON: Yep. And some things, you know, especially with certain devices. So like, I remember with Apple, when I first upgraded my phone and the new Apple News app, you know, it was like, well, you, it automatically starts giving me random alerts on certain things, and I said, “No, I didn't ask for this.”

LAUREN GILGER: I cannot have this.

JOSHUA JOHNSON: So I have, I have changed those notifications, which goes into like what people can have control of. You know, and I think that's something that people have to start kind of like diving deeper into themselves of: what do I have control right now in this moment? Rather if it's about, like, what I see on the internet, rather how I receive those messages.

And the other piece about it is, is that I think it's important to also talk about is that we're in a loneliness epidemic. And with that, it's people are not really connecting with people anymore because we've been taught now that people are scary.

LAUREN GILGER: You mean like pandemic-taught.

JOSHUA JOHNSON: Yep. Pandemic-taught. Yep. I love the way you worded that because again, the reality of it is is that we became attached to these screens when the pandemic happened.

LAUREN GILGER: So it sounds like you hear a lot of fear from people. I mean, I wonder how different is this from regular depression? Like, if you're looking at political depression, is it just the source that’s changed?

JOSHUA JOHNSON: Yeah, a mixture of it is definitely the source that’s changed. A lot of the components are still there, such as, you know, being very tired, drained, right, emotional. And of course, everyone's depression is different.

LAUREN GILGER: So what can we do, Joshua? Like, I mean, what do you advise clients to do who come to you with this kind of political anxiety, political depression, that feels very motivated by or driven by these sort of things that are out of their control? Like, we can't control, you know, what the president's doing, we can't control what's happening in the news. How do you cope with that?

JOSHUA JOHNSON: So, you have to start really paying attention to what you have control of. What can I restructure in my life, rather if it's my finances, rather if it is being mindful about not doom-scrolling.

LAUREN GILGER: Should we kind of log off? Should we not read every headline? Should we kind of disconnect from some of this constant political news in a way?

JOSHUA JOHNSON: I think it's important to understand your capacity on things, right? You know, one of the biggest thing that I know I've recognized about myself is that I know I can go to the party, but I can't do the afterparty.

Because if I do the afterparty, I know how my body's going to feel, I know how my mind is going to feel, and I'm always about giving and serving the best version of myself to everyone, including myself first, right? And so with that, it's understanding that, you know what, I'm hitting my limit and I need to just step back.

And I think a lot of people have to practice that and be more in tune with themselves with regarding that. Understanding your capacity helps save you from a lot of unnecessary drama that you don't want to incur in your life.

LAUREN GILGER: Is that the line between sort of disconnecting in a healthy way and disconnecting entirely, just being ignorant of what's happening?

JOSHUA JOHNSON: Well, I think that it's about again, understanding what is meaningful for you. At the end of the day, even in relationships, I even teach when I work with couples, you have to put yourself first, even in your relationship. There's respectful ways of doing that. Maybe right now, watching Fox News isn't what’s best for me.

The other day, it was a lot of “No Kings” protests, right? I know me, and I'm not one to go out there and protest, right? But I am one to still provide healthy information. That's what I have control of. Me doing this segment is providing healthy information. Everyone's view of healthy looks different, and I think everyone, just like someone's right now is doing yoga somewhere. Or someone is doing weightlifting, right?

Both of them are exercises. But the person is doing what they feel like is best for them in that moment.

LAUREN GILGER: Yeah. Maybe we need to turn inward a little bit here. All right, we’ll leave it there. Joshua Johnson, licensed social worker and therapist here in the Valley, joining us to talk about political anxiety, political depression. Joshua, thank you very much. I feel better.

JOSHUA JOHNSON: Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. I hope this helped.