East Bay residents find ways to decompress before final stretch of election season

WALNUT CREEK -The election exhaustion is hitting people hard. After two years of non-stop campaigning, it will be over.
Saturday night, some people in Walnut Creek were trying to decompress before the final stretch of the election season, but it was difficult.
“Most everyone I know their nerves are shredded and mine are as well,” said Ariane Michas of Berkeley.
“Anxious for sure,” said Tracy Jones of Oakland. “I want it to be over.”
“Anxious, anxious because we don’t know what the outcome is going to be,” said Dan Jefferson of Vallejo.
Anxious was the most common adjective used by people to describe their feelings just days before the general election.
A survey by the American Psychological Association finds nearly 70 percent of Americans are stressed over the election.
Jefferson came out to Broadway Plaza for a distraction.
“I’m out shopping, I’m doing a little retail therapy,” Jefferson said. “But there’s definitely conversations through shopping. It’s on everybody’s mind.”
For Tracy Jones, it was just one active of many to keep her mind on other things.
“We’re trying to keep busy,” Jones said. “I am at least. I’m working a little bit over the weekend. Something I normally don’t do.”
But Ariane Michas is taking a different approach.
“I would say just kind of sticking to a routine and keeping things quiet,” said Michas, on how she’s combating election anxiety. “Not drinking, that never helps me.”
Regardless of who wins, Michas is just hoping for a smooth transfer of power.
She says that can be more difficult with all the information available on social media.
“It’s so easy to tunnel vision into only your own views,” she said. “It’s so easy to find justification for not accepting or accepting a result based on how you feel about it. I think there’s just information overwhelm.”
But no matter what happens, she’s determined to keep things in perspective.
“Just remember the particulars of your situation which is the people who love me still love me, the roof over my head is still over my head, I still live in California where by in large the politics here reflect my values and protect my rights,” said Michas.
Everyone was in agreement that they are ready for this election cycle to end, until then it would be one nation totally stressed out.