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Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n As questions continue to mount over Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s future as Prime Minister<\/a> following last week\u2019s unexpected local election shake-up, the latest headlines might be making you feel uneasy.<\/p>\n The relentless 24-hour news cycle and polarisation on social media can often feel unavoidable, but in times of political uncertainty it can be helpful to sometimes step back and think about how it might be impacting your wellbeing.<\/p>\n We spoke to Dr Chetna Kang<\/a>, consultant psychiatrist at Central Health London, who explained what political anxiety is, identified six key signs to look out for, and shared some helpful tips on how to manage and overcome it.<\/p>\n What is political anxiety?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAnxiety<\/a> lies on a spectrum from general day-to-day worry which everybody experiences, right through to degrees of anxiety which lead to panic disorder or symptoms of PTSD<\/a>,\u201d says Kang. \u201cIt\u2019s essentially concern and worry on the mildest end, and symptoms of a mental health problem on the other end of the spectrum.<\/p>\n \u201cTherefore, when you affiliate anxiety with a particular trigger, like politics, for example, it will be levels of worry that are more than a day-to-day healthy concern that is particularly associated with a political climate.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the trigger is political, then we call it political anxiety, although political anxiety is not a diagnosis in itself.\u201d<\/p>\n Anxiety can have a big impact on your daily life, so here are some common signs to look out for\u2026<\/p>\n 1. Pervasive thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIf you are experiencing political anxiety, it\u2019s likely that your thoughts about the concern are pervasive,\u201d says Kang.<\/p>\n \u201cWhilst you\u2019re getting on with day-to-day life, your mind might be constantly ruminating about, or feeling anxious about in the background about, whatever political threat you\u2019re worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Feelings of helplessness<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cPolitics can often feel far-removed and when our minds go to a topic which feels outside of our circle of influence, it can increase the feeling of helplessness,\u201d says Kang.<\/p>\n 3. Difficulty concentrating<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cYour mind and thoughts might drift off to either the country where the political event is happening, or the future that you\u2019ve created in your mind,\u201d says Kang.<\/p>\n 4. Mood changes<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAnxiety is an emotional and behavioural response to a threat, and you may find yourself becoming more and more irritable,\u201d says Kang.<\/p>\n 5. Struggling to sleep<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cYou might not be able to switch off at night and struggle to sleep because when we\u2019re stressed and feel threatened we feel like we need to be on high alert,\u201d says Kang. \u201cThis can create a vicious cycle because as well as the anxiety itself affecting your cognition, immunity, your health, then the lack of sleep perpetuates this and makes it worse.\u201d<\/p>\n