The first step is acceptance. The world we live in is going to change and evolve whether we have control over it or not. There is only so much we can do for our society, and at some point, you need to do something for your own mental health. We get heated in discussions regarding today’s politics and what the people in our government are doing “wrong.” In doing so, we can damage our own mentality and often find ourselves depressed, frustrated and in many cases, scared. We need to find ways to avoid getting lost in the frustration.

Mindful Life Project is an organization dedicated to finding healthy outlets for people in all kinds of situations.

When it comes to focus, stress can often fog up critical thinking. Mindful Life Project states, “Chronic exposure to things that stress us out makes it hard for us to pay attention, make decisions and engage effectively with the people around us. As I’ve mentioned before, this type of chronic stress can have serious effects on the brain, leaving us feeling anxious, depressed and depleted.”

If people continue to stress over political situations and obsess over what’s going wrong in them, then it will wear them down over time and continue to allow that to grow over time, thus making people more fatigued and feeling “worn down.”

Jimmy LaSalvia, a writer for The Daily Beast, said in his article “Striking a Positive Balance: Political Self-Help in the Age of Trump, “What is all of this fighting and negativity doing to our country? What’s it doing to each of us individually? Whether you call it karma, The Law of Attraction, ‘what goes around, comes around,’ however you label it, there are real, detrimental effects that being consumed with the negativity of the political fight have on us all.”

Feeling torn about the political environment is normal in today’s society. First, we have to address this fact and accept that the frustration has taken over us.

LaSalvia also spoke on his experience with trying to “disconnect” from the toxicity of the political climate.

“I had to dramatically reduce my time on social media and limit my consumption of news-talk programming on television and radio,” said LaSalvia. “A lot of people are doing this these days because the atmosphere has become so toxic.”

One good way to relieve your mind is to disconnect. News fasting is one way to battle your stress of society. By only listening to local news, avoiding those ads on Facebook, and steering clear of the excessive Twitter updates, people get to refresh their minds after bombarding themselves with all the politics and drama.

Another good way to ease your mind and muscles is by breathing, as stated by Careers In Psychology, an organization made up of a team of psychologists who write articles to help give information to those in need.

“Deep breathing is a simple and efficient way to reduce your stress levels and regain control in your mind. When you start feeling overwhelmed at work or in any other environment, sit down and take a few deep and conscious breaths.”

By actively stepping away from our phones for a few minutes and controlling our breath, we can ease our mindset and focus on ourselves instead of all the frustrations in the world around us.

Because it has a lot to do with us and the world around us, politics has its grip on our minds and has a lot of power over how we feel. Some days are worse than others and we find that we don’t feel like ourselves. To bring everything back to the ground, step away from your surroundings for a minute, and breathe. It won’t change politics, but it will help change your world.