Nov 06 2008
Post Election Depression
After 21 months the ordeal is finally over. No more debates where no one really answers the question. No more endless analysis of speeches. No more polls scrolling across the bottom of the television screen. No more anxiety over who might be running the country for the next four years.
But is it really over?
No doubt this has been the election of a generation, one of historic significance, yet enough is finally enough, in my opinion. Let’s face it, the last two years have been a full out media assault of “blah blah taxes,” “blah blah Iraq,” “blah blah Supreme Court” and “blah blah terrorist.” I seem to have this faint memory in the furthest recesses of my mind where there might be some discussion of politics or the president, but people still discussed other topics. After last night, I was looking forward to getting back to that, back to the time when one could turn on the radio and hear music, not political propaganda.
So you can imagine how floored I was this evening when I heard a news program discussing what is known as PED or Post-Election Depression. Apparently, some people are so distressed by the thought of no more election drama that they’ve become depressed. I can see how that might happen, in a way; the way a bride might feel depressed by the thought of no longer being a bride and having to settle into the routine of wifely duty. It might make sense.
Then again, wedding planning is fun; election coverage was a beating…
In parting, here are a few words of advice for anyone reading who may be experience Post-Election Depression:
- Try to remember all those things you used to love before election coverage took over your life. Once upon a time you had a hobby…and luckily hobbies tend to be forgiving when you come back to them.
- Try not to spend all your chat time with friends rehashing each and every detail of the election. That will only serve to make the media black hole more poignant when you’re next alone.
- Try counting sheep. Even if it isn’t time for sleep, it will still kill some time.
- Try to keep breathing and remember that everything is going to be okay.
And if all of that isn’t enough to get you through the depression, just hold onto the thought that all sorts of political drama is going to be coming at us once power changes hands and the freshman leaders find out what sort of mess they’ve inherited.
