Suffering withdrawal now that Election Day has come and gone? Post-Dispatch staff writer Harry Jackson has submitted this good advice:

Election dejection is what Dr. Miggie Greenberg, a psychiatrist with St. Louis University School of Medicine, calls it. It’s the result of the end to the emotional highs and lows and adrenaline-fueled rushes that feed political junkies.

Indeed, no political race had more highs and lows than this last one, regardless of your candidate.
So don’t be surprised by a post-election let-down, says Greenberg. In fact, it’s likely.

“That’s because our political views represent a fundamental part of our identity,” Greenberg says. “Many things, like politics and religion, are primitive parts of who we are that reflect the way we were raised.

“Often, our politics reflect our world view. When our candidate wins, it reinforces what we believe and what we learned from our families.

“When our candidate loses, it can feel like people are rejecting us and our values, which can be hurtful.”

So the candidate is more than just someone who you want to represent you. He or she is often a reflection of how you see yourself. That’s why people who back losing candidates often have deeper crashes.

Winners, on the other hand, have a crash similar to one experienced by people who prepare for one big show or competition - the debates, the conversations, even campaigning and blogging. When the event ends, there’s a deflation, says Greenberg.

To ease the malaise, suggests Greenberg, “We can use our newly reclaimed time in other types of civic involvement, such as volunteering for a cause we believe in, or we can rediscover hobbies that have been placed on the back burner.

“It’s also important to reconnect with other people who share our same values, which can be validating.”
Or, she says, if you’re really hooked, join a political movement that’s preparing for the next election.