November 2, 2024 • 15 mins
If you're finding yourself up doomscrolling until 2:00 in the morning, grinding your teeth, or fighting a lot more with people on the other side of the aisle, you are far from alone. Polls show the majority of Americans are dealing with some kind of election-related stress, and it's taking a toll on us as we approach this consequential vote. Tony Cunningham, psychologist and Director of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's Center for Sleep and Cognition, shares tips and healthy coping mechanisms on this week's show, and talks with Nichole about the psychological drivers behind all this animosity and stress.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each week we come together right here we
talk about all the topics important to you and the
place where you live. It is so good to be
back with you again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. Have
you found yourself feeling a bit more on edge lately?
A little more tense? All the rhetoric and the anger
(00:28):
and the attack ads can take a toll, and they
have been for weeks, if not months. Even though election
Day is just a couple days out. That does not
mean all this is just going to magically disappear. Let's
try to break down some ways that during this time
we can take care of ourselves. Doctor Tony Cunningham is here.
He is over at Harvard Medical School, is an assistant
professor of psychology, so he knows his stuff. Thanks for
(00:50):
being here, and I want to start by really digging
into the brain, into the nitty gritty. Why do we
freak out so much and hold so much stress over
things that ultimately we know we can control.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, that's a that's a great question, and I think
it boils down to being a part of a community.
And so one of the ways that we have framed
some of our research in this area is based on
the concept of public mood, and so when you talk
about public mood, the size of the public that you're
(01:21):
talking about can can basically range just you know, beyond
the individual person. So certainly you have something happen to
you individually that will affect your mood, but then when
you start to become part of a community, you know,
these broader things can kind of sway how you're feeling
on a day to day basis. And then what we've
found can also you know, affect the way that you
(01:42):
are sleeping at night and have other health behaviors that
you tend to engage in. And so you know, the
more closely you tie feel tied to that community, the
more likely you are going to be affected by things
that affect the broader community. And really interesting, some of
the previous research in this area has been done on
things like sports related activities. So you know, the Dodgers fans,
(02:06):
I mean, today is the day after the Dodgers one series,
and so they probably are feeling much different than Yikes
fans today.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Probably to the light of a lot of the Boston listeners.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
But uh yeah, so that that's one of the context
in which it can be studied. Obviously, you know, your
favorite sports team winning a big a big game or
a big event has kind of pales in comparison for
the potential impact for a lot of what we're talking
about here with.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Elections, and we hear a lot of talk about this
is the biggest election of our lifetime, and this is
going to be the difference between democracy and not democracy.
And you know, your children are going to need you to,
you know, vote, but the way that you need to
vote on both sides, this is not just happening on
one side of the aisle. That is a lot of
stress in itself.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Absolutely, absolutely, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
And you know, one of the things I like to
do when I talk about this research is that, you know,
I like to take a look at the historical perspective,
and you know, you think back to like an election
in eighteen ninety two, and you're a settler in Wyoming,
You're waiting two to three months.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Later to hear we're on the election.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Whereas you know, if you talk about the twenty four
hour news cycle, that's really only been around for the
last since nineteen eighty, so around nineteen eighty.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Is when the twenty four hours news cycle came wrong.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
So I think that that makes this the eleventh election
since twenty four hour news cycle. And then if you
talk about social media and the role that social media
is playing and how we're feeling and doing these days,
as of I think two thousand and three or two
thousand and five or something like that, only about five
percent of adults had a social media account, and so
(03:50):
obviously that has changed, and I wouldn't be surprised if
it's much higher than ninety percent and at the current time.
And so even since that time though, there's only like
the fifth election or something of that, in which we've
had complete and unfettered access not just to the news,
but to literally everyone's opinion about the news, to both
(04:11):
the information and the misinformation. And so really we're in
an era now where if you were stressed about the
election in you know, nineteen oh eight, you just went
to bed because there was nothing else you could do
about it. Right in twenty twenty four, you could doom
scroll to your heart's content and get every perspective from
(04:32):
every person out there. And I think that is what's
so much different now. This really kind of is unprecedented territory,
and I mean, who knows what like the the back
and forth on social media would have been like in
some of these earlier elections. You know, if everyone could
communicate like they can now. So it's just a very
(04:52):
different time. I would say probably the emotions and the
importance aren't aren't different, but the communication is what's really
different now.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I often say the Internet and social media are the
worst and best things to happen in humankind because it
has certainly opened up a lot of opportunity, and we
can communicate and meet people from all over the world
and do business. But now you have to hear everybody
from all over the world on all the fringes, and
it can be information overload. I know why, even personally
(05:22):
am suffering from information overload. How do we separate ourselves
from that but also ensure that we feel like we're
staying connected and making sure that we're doing our part.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
That is such a great question, and I don't think
I'm gonna have a super satisfying answer great fortunately, but
you know, I.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Think and that is where the line is.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
And I think that the best I could say is
to really try to be mindful, like mindfulness I think
is key here because just like like when again, I
would never tell someone to disengage completely because it is
important to be informed. It is important to be connected
with your community, like those things are important. The trick
(06:05):
is and if I if I had the answer to
how to do this, you know, I'd be a millionaire.
The trick is to stop at informed, like you know,
go until you are informed, and then shut it off.
And you know that that's a blurry line. And so
there is no necessary right answer for like this is
the moment that it's too much. But what I can
say is that there is research out there that the
(06:29):
there that an over consumption of news leads to higher
psychological distress. So the more that you are spending time
looking through all the news stories and reading everything, the
higher your psychological distress will be. So there there is
a sweet spot in there, and I just think it's
going to be different for everybody. So you know, one
of these this is one of those things where you
(06:50):
really just need to be mindful and really take stock
of how you're doing it any given time and make
a decision as to uh, you know, how how how
much is too much?
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And even if you want to separate, like say you
want to go on TikTok for example, and look at
dog videos, or people are cooking miniature things. The algorithms
the way they do, I feel like almost everything is
so interconnected at this point you can't get away from it.
My TikTok is full of political stuff, My Facebook is
full of political stuff, my you know whatever else, Instagram,
you name it, it's all full of political stuff. So
(07:22):
it feels like it's kind of all hitting you. Even
the ads, which everybody in my life I know is
just like, please be done with the ads. So it
kind of feels like it's coming at to at all
angles no matter what you do.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Yeah, you know I have.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I mean that you're absolutely right, and I think right now,
since this is like the news of the day for
the next two weeks, it is something you just kind
of gotta to grit your teeth because we don't have
full control over those algorithms, and they are pushing those
things because they know they are getting lingering scrolls and
more clicks, and that's what they want you spending your
(07:53):
time doing. I have heard some people you know that
tend to struggle with this will set up like an
alternate account in which they actively only follow like happy
things like pictures of cats and feel good stories and
things like that. And that's great, and I think that
would probably cut down on the amount of political stuff.
(08:15):
But like you said, at this time in the cycle,
it's gonna seep in no matter what, and so you know,
it could be a good time to investigate other means of.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Passing your time.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
But you know, I also totally understand the desire to
spend a little bit of time on the internet as well.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Like you said, it's good with the band.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And it's important to remember too that the emotions you're
feeling are valid. It's okay to be nervous, and it's
okay to be concerned because a lot of the issues
that are at stake right now are pretty big issues.
And especially if say, you really care about abortion, or
you really care about the economy, or you happen to
really care about whatever top issue is going on. How
(09:01):
does somebody deal with the stress and anxiety of not
being able to better communicate with people, perhaps or not
really getting people to understand where they are coming from
on a certain issue.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah, that's another phenomenal question. And I will say so
we ran this this study on the twenty twenty election,
and we learned a little bit about people's response to
that election and with regards to sleep and mood and
things of that nature, and it's kind of funny. I
actually had a bit of trouble getting that those results published,
(09:32):
and one of the you know, a lot of the
feedback was from the reviewers was that it was obvious,
like it was obvious that people were going to be
feeling stress around the election. I was like, then, of
all things, this needs to be published out there because
if nothing else, if nothing else, what I'll say about
this research is it's been very validating, and not just
for me, but for everyone that hears about it.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Like, you are exactly right.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
It is totally normal and expected to be feeling stressed
and anxious and potentially a little depressed or a little
bit bad mood or lower good mood during this time
because of what is potentially at stake for you, regardless
of your side of the political spectrum or your individual beliefs.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
So again, you're raised. I couldn't have said it better.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Step one is just to acknowledge that acknowledge the fact
that there is a lot at stake for you potentially,
and it can be very stressful to realize that you're
having a harder time connecting with people that may not
be directly in line with how you're feeling about that
particular topic. And so, you know, again putting on my
(10:39):
clinical hat a little bit more. Again, recognizing your limits
and acknowledging your feelings or are step one, Like if
you if you, it's really hard to put the brakes
on or to engage meaningfully when you're kind of out
of control, uh, when you don't feel control of your
(11:00):
own emotions, and so you know, that's step one. The
other thing that I would really recommend during this time
is to try try to maintain a routine as best as.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
You can, even through the worst of it. So, you know,
we got about a.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Few days coming up until the election, and you know,
having a plan for the day, you know, trying to
stick to the plan, trying to engage in your healthy
coping strategies and be mindful of your negative coping strategies. Again,
I'm not trying to take anything away from anybody, but
being mindful of how you might react in the situation.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Can really help.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
I think you feel a little bit more in control,
like you opened up our discussion today talking about how
you know, this is the things that are out of
our control and so having some autonomy and feeling like
you are in control of some things, are in control
of some stuff in your life, I think will really
help mitigate your response and reaction during these times.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Yeah, taking it to the even the most molecular level.
I guess you could say, like I am in control.
I am here right now, I am doing okay, like
I am working, I am driving down the expressway, I'm
trying not to hit somebody, you know, like really keeping
yourself in the moment, because it's easy to catastrophize. I
think it's super easy to want to say, Okay, we're
(12:19):
gonna start to immigrate, We're gonna do this, We're going
to get all this put together, because again, a lot
of these issues at stake, especially for people you know
who are of color or maybe LGBTQ. There's a lot
of stress and there's a lot at stake for these people.
But it's really easy to get ahead of yourself.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
I guess, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I mean, I think taking a step of time and
being mindful of the relationships that you have and you know,
it's okay to need a break from some people in
your life at this time, and it doesn't mean that
you don't love them or that you know you don't
have a caring relationship with them, but and then also
being mindful of the relationships that you can lean on
during this time. So it's all it's all very hard
(13:01):
to do. Like none of this is easy, and that
goes again across the board, and like we talked about it,
it's normal to feel stressed.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
It would almost be.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I would say it would be a luxury to not
feel stressed about being.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Only if only we should be so lucky. Well, I mean,
any other tips or tricks you might have for people
who might be kind of just stressing out a lot
right now or nervous about how this is all going
to play out.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, well, I mean as a sleep researcher, I'd be
remiss if I didn't say, do your best to focus.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
On your sleep.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Although I can also acknowledge that telling people to sleep
is like telling people not to think about, you know,
a white polar bear.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
So you know that's when we.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Talk about though, there is a pretty good link to
and to how you are sleeping is indicative to your
emotional response the next day. And so if you sleep poorly,
there are actual areas of your brain in your in
the frontal regions of your brain that are really important
(14:00):
for you know, kind of putting the brakes on your
emotional areas of your brain, and that connection between those
two things begins to break down if you're not getting
enough sleep. And so again telling people to get sleep
again that can kind of just stress them out that
they need to get more sleep.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
But what I would say then is control what you
can in that situation. So you know, try not to drink.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Caffeine afternoon in days that you might be more worried
about sleep. You know, treat yourself right before bed, you know,
make yourself feel comfortable. And then you know, trying to
put that phone down rather than scrolling for an extra
five minutes that turns in an extra twenty minute, turns
in an hour.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
You know, trying to put that phone.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Down sooner in the evening and really focus on allowing
yourself to sleep, who could be really helpful. At the
same time, if you are struggling with sleep, that's okay too,
And like that again, that'd be somewhat expected, and so
in those situations, I would recommend actually probably getting up
for a little bit and trying to do something that
is a good to stress you up. Further so, watching
(15:01):
a funny show or reading an unrelated book or something
of that nature could be a good way until you're
feeling sleepy, and then try to drift.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Off any sort of rest we can get at this point.
Will take it right, just take it all right. Well,
you know, great tips and really good information. Thank you
for the conversation, Tony Cunningham. Really I appreciate your time
and hopefully things start to de stress a little bit
more in the coming weeks.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
I can only hope thanks for having me have.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
A safe and healthy weekend. Please join me again next
week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole Davis
from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each week we come together right here we
talk about all the topics important to you and the
place where you live. It is so good to be
back with you again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. Have
you found yourself feeling a bit more on edge lately?
A little more tense? All the rhetoric and the anger
(00:28):
and the attack ads can take a toll, and they
have been for weeks, if not months. Even though election
Day is just a couple days out. That does not
mean all this is just going to magically disappear. Let's
try to break down some ways that during this time
we can take care of ourselves. Doctor Tony Cunningham is here.
He is over at Harvard Medical School, is an assistant
professor of psychology, so he knows his stuff. Thanks for
(00:50):
being here, and I want to start by really digging
into the brain, into the nitty gritty. Why do we
freak out so much and hold so much stress over
things that ultimately we know we can control.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, that's a that's a great question, and I think
it boils down to being a part of a community.
And so one of the ways that we have framed
some of our research in this area is based on
the concept of public mood, and so when you talk
about public mood, the size of the public that you're
(01:21):
talking about can can basically range just you know, beyond
the individual person. So certainly you have something happen to
you individually that will affect your mood, but then when
you start to become part of a community, you know,
these broader things can kind of sway how you're feeling
on a day to day basis. And then what we've
found can also you know, affect the way that you
(01:42):
are sleeping at night and have other health behaviors that
you tend to engage in. And so you know, the
more closely you tie feel tied to that community, the
more likely you are going to be affected by things
that affect the broader community. And really interesting, some of
the previous research in this area has been done on
things like sports related activities. So you know, the Dodgers fans,
(02:06):
I mean, today is the day after the Dodgers one series,
and so they probably are feeling much different than Yikes
fans today.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Probably to the light of a lot of the Boston listeners.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
But uh yeah, so that that's one of the context
in which it can be studied. Obviously, you know, your
favorite sports team winning a big a big game or
a big event has kind of pales in comparison for
the potential impact for a lot of what we're talking
about here with.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Elections, and we hear a lot of talk about this
is the biggest election of our lifetime, and this is
going to be the difference between democracy and not democracy.
And you know, your children are going to need you to,
you know, vote, but the way that you need to
vote on both sides, this is not just happening on
one side of the aisle. That is a lot of
stress in itself.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Absolutely, absolutely, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
And you know, one of the things I like to
do when I talk about this research is that, you know,
I like to take a look at the historical perspective,
and you know, you think back to like an election
in eighteen ninety two, and you're a settler in Wyoming,
You're waiting two to three months.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Later to hear we're on the election.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Whereas you know, if you talk about the twenty four
hour news cycle, that's really only been around for the
last since nineteen eighty, so around nineteen eighty.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Is when the twenty four hours news cycle came wrong.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
So I think that that makes this the eleventh election
since twenty four hour news cycle. And then if you
talk about social media and the role that social media
is playing and how we're feeling and doing these days,
as of I think two thousand and three or two
thousand and five or something like that, only about five
percent of adults had a social media account, and so
(03:50):
obviously that has changed, and I wouldn't be surprised if
it's much higher than ninety percent and at the current time.
And so even since that time though, there's only like
the fifth election or something of that, in which we've
had complete and unfettered access not just to the news,
but to literally everyone's opinion about the news, to both
(04:11):
the information and the misinformation. And so really we're in
an era now where if you were stressed about the
election in you know, nineteen oh eight, you just went
to bed because there was nothing else you could do
about it. Right in twenty twenty four, you could doom
scroll to your heart's content and get every perspective from
(04:32):
every person out there. And I think that is what's
so much different now. This really kind of is unprecedented territory,
and I mean, who knows what like the the back
and forth on social media would have been like in
some of these earlier elections. You know, if everyone could
communicate like they can now. So it's just a very
(04:52):
different time. I would say probably the emotions and the
importance aren't aren't different, but the communication is what's really
different now.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I often say the Internet and social media are the
worst and best things to happen in humankind because it
has certainly opened up a lot of opportunity, and we
can communicate and meet people from all over the world
and do business. But now you have to hear everybody
from all over the world on all the fringes, and
it can be information overload. I know why, even personally
(05:22):
am suffering from information overload. How do we separate ourselves
from that but also ensure that we feel like we're
staying connected and making sure that we're doing our part.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
That is such a great question, and I don't think
I'm gonna have a super satisfying answer great fortunately, but
you know, I.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Think and that is where the line is.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
And I think that the best I could say is
to really try to be mindful, like mindfulness I think
is key here because just like like when again, I
would never tell someone to disengage completely because it is
important to be informed. It is important to be connected
with your community, like those things are important. The trick
(06:05):
is and if I if I had the answer to
how to do this, you know, I'd be a millionaire.
The trick is to stop at informed, like you know,
go until you are informed, and then shut it off.
And you know that that's a blurry line. And so
there is no necessary right answer for like this is
the moment that it's too much. But what I can
say is that there is research out there that the
(06:29):
there that an over consumption of news leads to higher
psychological distress. So the more that you are spending time
looking through all the news stories and reading everything, the
higher your psychological distress will be. So there there is
a sweet spot in there, and I just think it's
going to be different for everybody. So you know, one
of these this is one of those things where you
(06:50):
really just need to be mindful and really take stock
of how you're doing it any given time and make
a decision as to uh, you know, how how how
much is too much?
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And even if you want to separate, like say you
want to go on TikTok for example, and look at
dog videos, or people are cooking miniature things. The algorithms
the way they do, I feel like almost everything is
so interconnected at this point you can't get away from it.
My TikTok is full of political stuff, My Facebook is
full of political stuff, my you know whatever else, Instagram,
you name it, it's all full of political stuff. So
(07:22):
it feels like it's kind of all hitting you. Even
the ads, which everybody in my life I know is
just like, please be done with the ads. So it
kind of feels like it's coming at to at all
angles no matter what you do.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Yeah, you know I have.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I mean that you're absolutely right, and I think right now,
since this is like the news of the day for
the next two weeks, it is something you just kind
of gotta to grit your teeth because we don't have
full control over those algorithms, and they are pushing those
things because they know they are getting lingering scrolls and
more clicks, and that's what they want you spending your
(07:53):
time doing. I have heard some people you know that
tend to struggle with this will set up like an
alternate account in which they actively only follow like happy
things like pictures of cats and feel good stories and
things like that. And that's great, and I think that
would probably cut down on the amount of political stuff.
(08:15):
But like you said, at this time in the cycle,
it's gonna seep in no matter what, and so you know,
it could be a good time to investigate other means of.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Passing your time.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
But you know, I also totally understand the desire to
spend a little bit of time on the internet as well.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Like you said, it's good with the band.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And it's important to remember too that the emotions you're
feeling are valid. It's okay to be nervous, and it's
okay to be concerned because a lot of the issues
that are at stake right now are pretty big issues.
And especially if say, you really care about abortion, or
you really care about the economy, or you happen to
really care about whatever top issue is going on. How
(09:01):
does somebody deal with the stress and anxiety of not
being able to better communicate with people, perhaps or not
really getting people to understand where they are coming from
on a certain issue.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah, that's another phenomenal question. And I will say so
we ran this this study on the twenty twenty election,
and we learned a little bit about people's response to
that election and with regards to sleep and mood and
things of that nature, and it's kind of funny. I
actually had a bit of trouble getting that those results published,
(09:32):
and one of the you know, a lot of the
feedback was from the reviewers was that it was obvious,
like it was obvious that people were going to be
feeling stress around the election. I was like, then, of
all things, this needs to be published out there because
if nothing else, if nothing else, what I'll say about
this research is it's been very validating, and not just
for me, but for everyone that hears about it.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Like, you are exactly right.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
It is totally normal and expected to be feeling stressed
and anxious and potentially a little depressed or a little
bit bad mood or lower good mood during this time
because of what is potentially at stake for you, regardless
of your side of the political spectrum or your individual beliefs.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
So again, you're raised. I couldn't have said it better.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Step one is just to acknowledge that acknowledge the fact
that there is a lot at stake for you potentially,
and it can be very stressful to realize that you're
having a harder time connecting with people that may not
be directly in line with how you're feeling about that
particular topic. And so, you know, again putting on my
(10:39):
clinical hat a little bit more. Again, recognizing your limits
and acknowledging your feelings or are step one, Like if
you if you, it's really hard to put the brakes
on or to engage meaningfully when you're kind of out
of control, uh, when you don't feel control of your
(11:00):
own emotions, and so you know, that's step one. The
other thing that I would really recommend during this time
is to try try to maintain a routine as best as.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
You can, even through the worst of it. So, you know,
we got about a.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Few days coming up until the election, and you know,
having a plan for the day, you know, trying to
stick to the plan, trying to engage in your healthy
coping strategies and be mindful of your negative coping strategies. Again,
I'm not trying to take anything away from anybody, but
being mindful of how you might react in the situation.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
Can really help.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
I think you feel a little bit more in control,
like you opened up our discussion today talking about how
you know, this is the things that are out of
our control and so having some autonomy and feeling like
you are in control of some things, are in control
of some stuff in your life, I think will really
help mitigate your response and reaction during these times.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Yeah, taking it to the even the most molecular level.
I guess you could say, like I am in control.
I am here right now, I am doing okay, like
I am working, I am driving down the expressway, I'm
trying not to hit somebody, you know, like really keeping
yourself in the moment, because it's easy to catastrophize. I
think it's super easy to want to say, Okay, we're
(12:19):
gonna start to immigrate, We're gonna do this, We're going
to get all this put together, because again, a lot
of these issues at stake, especially for people you know
who are of color or maybe LGBTQ. There's a lot
of stress and there's a lot at stake for these people.
But it's really easy to get ahead of yourself.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
I guess, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I mean, I think taking a step of time and
being mindful of the relationships that you have and you know,
it's okay to need a break from some people in
your life at this time, and it doesn't mean that
you don't love them or that you know you don't
have a caring relationship with them, but and then also
being mindful of the relationships that you can lean on
during this time. So it's all it's all very hard
(13:01):
to do. Like none of this is easy, and that
goes again across the board, and like we talked about it,
it's normal to feel stressed.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
It would almost be.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I would say it would be a luxury to not
feel stressed about being.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Only if only we should be so lucky. Well, I mean,
any other tips or tricks you might have for people
who might be kind of just stressing out a lot
right now or nervous about how this is all going
to play out.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah, well, I mean as a sleep researcher, I'd be
remiss if I didn't say, do your best to focus.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
On your sleep.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Although I can also acknowledge that telling people to sleep
is like telling people not to think about, you know,
a white polar bear.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
So you know that's when we.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Talk about though, there is a pretty good link to
and to how you are sleeping is indicative to your
emotional response the next day. And so if you sleep poorly,
there are actual areas of your brain in your in
the frontal regions of your brain that are really important
(14:00):
for you know, kind of putting the brakes on your
emotional areas of your brain, and that connection between those
two things begins to break down if you're not getting
enough sleep. And so again telling people to get sleep
again that can kind of just stress them out that
they need to get more sleep.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
But what I would say then is control what you
can in that situation. So you know, try not to drink.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Caffeine afternoon in days that you might be more worried
about sleep. You know, treat yourself right before bed, you know,
make yourself feel comfortable. And then you know, trying to
put that phone down rather than scrolling for an extra
five minutes that turns in an extra twenty minute, turns
in an hour.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
You know, trying to put that phone.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Down sooner in the evening and really focus on allowing
yourself to sleep, who could be really helpful. At the
same time, if you are struggling with sleep, that's okay too,
And like that again, that'd be somewhat expected, and so
in those situations, I would recommend actually probably getting up
for a little bit and trying to do something that
is a good to stress you up. Further so, watching
(15:01):
a funny show or reading an unrelated book or something
of that nature could be a good way until you're
feeling sleepy, and then try to drift.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Off any sort of rest we can get at this point.
Will take it right, just take it all right. Well,
you know, great tips and really good information. Thank you
for the conversation, Tony Cunningham. Really I appreciate your time
and hopefully things start to de stress a little bit
more in the coming weeks.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
I can only hope thanks for having me have.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
A safe and healthy weekend. Please join me again next
week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole Davis
from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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