With a very divided electorate like we saw this week.

Many of those disaffected voters whose candidate did not win are feeling some pretty strong emotions right now.

That's what our mental health writer Bobby Brier discovered as he looked into data from sources about field crisis calls.

And it's not just the results of the election that have had an impact on people's mental health.

It's also the cumulative effect of a divisive and at times nasty election season, where attack ads ran against political opponents on both sides.

So what now?

How are folks responding?

And what are health care organizations recommending for those in crisis?

Bobby joins me now to discuss.

Bobby, great to see you.

What can you tell us about what the state is seeing in terms of folks feeling pretty distressed after these election results?

Right.

Right now, a lot of folks are really feeling a cumulative impact of stress and anxiety, not only from the election results, but really the lead up to it that we've seen the constant negative ads, as you have mentioned, constant social media presence of attack ads and divisive election news.

So right now, folks are really, in some cases, responding in crisis ways, calling different lifeline and chat line calls like nine, eight, eight in New Jersey as well as other national organizations like the Trevor Project have seen an increase in calls and long wait times at their crisis and chat text lines.

It's interesting because, you know, the advent of social media and folks getting their news right on their phone in some cases.

Right.

Makes it hard to shut off all of the notices and the election kind of conversation that happens on a day to day basis.

You did speak to some health care professionals.

I'm curious, did they address how folks manage that social media, use that phone use?

They did, yeah.

Really?

A lot of them had spoken to the same couple of points.

One of them was really to take a break from social media.

Take a break from the constant news coverage and really try to connect with those that you love and that you trust and try to get out and exercise more.

Try to stick to those daily routines and habits such as eating well, sleeping well.

And if you get back in that rhythm, a lot had said that could really just keep your quality of life at a high level or continue to improve it despite this negative news.

And for other folks, a lot just need time around, friends and time around people that maybe they had not spoken to in a while.

So those were some of the main recommendations, tips from mental health care professionals that I spoke to.

I do want to be clear.

They never said stay away from NJ PBS though, right?

They did say keep NJ PBS as your main source of news.

Just to make sure that's correct.

That's correct.

But in all seriousness, there are folks in particular that I know you've checked in on because it's where I guess a lot of the crisis calls are coming from folks in the LGBTQ community who perhaps are feeling uneasy about what the future holds for them.

What are you seeing?

A lot of folks that had spoken to, particularly at organizations like the Garden State Equality, had really fielded more crisis calls in recent days after this election.

Really, That was because of a lot of the campaign rhetoric in the lead up to and after the election had really pointed to anti-trans messaging.

And many folks I had spoken to really were feeling that stress and that strain.

Mental health professionals in those situations had really also cautioned against looking at social media or news in many situations and really trying to get back in community with people that they love and people that support folks no matter what.

So that's not just here in New Jersey, but nationally as well.

With those national LGBTQ organizations like the Trevor Project.

One of the conversations that we keep coming back to here as we look at those who have run more civil kind of campaigns, is that folks aren't all that different, right?

What about having conversations with folks even maybe who disagree with you or voted for the other candidate?

You know, how how do you kind of bring folks back together?

What are you did you have any conversations around that space?

Yeah, You know, a lot of folks had spoken to the importance of if you are spending time with loved ones, that they may have a differing political view.

If you could bring the conversation towards something where you both agree on common ground, maybe that's a way to bridge that conversation or to start that conversation again, but also to set boundaries with yourself.

If you do feel like you're you're kind of overexposed to the news media or to social media coverage, maybe talking to somebody face to face would actually help your mental health in many ways.

Or just come here to enjoy PBS for a more fair and balanced news.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Thank you, Bobby.

Great to talk to you, as always.

Thank you, Joanna.