Stressed about the election? Here are some tips

Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• Election anxiety is real. Here are some ways to deal with it.
• He spent 30 years in prison, where he was beaten and shot. Was he actually innocent?
• Quincy Jones, the legendary composer who shaped Michael Jackson’s solo career, has died.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper.
  

The election is days away, but a clear winner is stress and its running mate, anxiety

I’m going to take an educated guess and say that, like me, you’ve been losing sleep over the presidential election, which polling shows is a toss-up — and which has been framed by both sides as existential.

More than 73% of Americans say they feel stressed about the election, according to a recent poll from the American Psychiatric Assn. And if you don’t want to take their word for it, a 2023 poll from Pew Research Center found that 65% of us feel exhausted when thinking about politics.

Thankfully, my colleagues at The Times looked at several ways to remain calm during these uncertain times. So take a deep breath with me, count to 10 and check out these different ways to keep your chill while the world seemingly falls apart.

(Los Angeles Times photo illustration)

One strategy for stress? Control what you can

It helps to “stop worrying about being worried” and instead focus on coping with stress, writes clinical psychologist Jenny Taitz, who created a handy and easy-to-read guide for The Times on how to manage election-related stress.

One of her strategies in particular has helped me: keeping a rhythm to your week that helps establish a sense of control in your life.

“Remember to also stick with habits that protect your mental health, such as maintaining a sensible sleep schedule and exercise routine,” Jenny writes. “Limit your news consumption, checking it only at specific times instead of constantly doomscrolling.”

(If you could limit your news consumption to around 6:30 a.m. — when Essential California gets delivered — that would mean a lot to me.)

Finding ways to participate in the election process also can help, either by volunteering your time to campaigns or donating to causes that are important to you, Jenny writes.

Get off social media and go outside

Sometimes, staying cooped up in my apartment does not help when I’m on a bender of existential dread. Or, at least, that’s what my husband often reminds me as he pushes me out the door.

Los Angeles provides plenty of ways to remain very mindful when you’re not feeling very demure.

Here are 25 places and activities that can help keep your nerves in check, courtesy of my colleague Deborah Vankin. Her guide includes a soothing sound bath at Calming Spot in Santa Monica or sifting through records at High Fidelity in West Adams.

The guide serves as an excellent reminder that stress can be managed both emotionally and physically. Taking a stroll through the Velaslavasay Panorama gardens or going for a walk on the Elysian Park West Loop Trail are easy ways to clear your mind.

Plus, a wide body of research has shown that regular aerobic exercise can relieve stress and counter depression. That includes hiking, and Southern California offers a number of great trails that can help you get out of your head and feel more grounded.

Staying social also can help break the feeling of isolation that sometimes piggybacks on tension. If you’re looking for something to do on election night that doesn’t involve stress eating at home, here are some restaurants and bars where you can nosh while watching election results with friends.

So, as you go about your democratic duty and await election results this week, don’t forget to take care of yourselves.

Today’s top stories

High schoolers gather outside an Oakland courthouse Oct. 17 to drop off ballots for local school board races in Alameda County.

(Meg Tanaka / For The Times)

Down-ballot races get less attention but make a strong local impact

• L.A. voters could dramatically reshape local government. Here’s what to know.
• Battles between Latino and Asian political candidates could reshape L.A.’s Eastside.
• Teens 16 and 17 get to vote in two Alameda County school board races.
• Banned rainbows and “forced outing”: Will elections reshape this relentless school board?
• A new poll shows George Gascón still trails Nathan Hochman by a wide margin in the race for Los Angeles County district attorney.
• If you want to cast your ballot in person Monday, ahead of election day Tuesday, L.A. County has opened hundreds more voting centers.

Context, perspective and tips to get you through this election week

• Vote-counting rules in battleground states will likely complicate when a winner is named.
• For these experts, social media won’t help call the election.
• How to survive election week 2024: Here are some lessons from last time.
• Close polls, likely legal challenges: How TV networks will handle another election week.
• Trump’s culture of retribution has swept through American life.
• America reached the campaign’s final weekend with the same divide over Trump that has roiled politics for a decade.

What else is going on

• Quincy Jones, the legendary composer who shaped Michael Jackson’s solo career, has died.
• Here’s a look at which L.A. neighborhoods have paid the most in the so-called “mansion tax.”
• An invasive mussel has been found in North America for the first time, posing an immediate threat in California’s Delta.
• A Thousand Oaks nursing home resident was arrested on suspicion of killing his roommate.
• Two LAPD officers were injured when their patrol car was hit by another vehicle.
  

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Commentary and opinions

• George Skelton: Sure, Harris isn’t ideal. But Trump is a disgrace to America.
• Tony Barboza: The best and only way to defend democracy from Trump’s attacks? Get out and vote.
• Carla Hall: I was lucky to see a baby elephant up close, but it’s time to rethink keeping these majestic animals in zoos.
• Robin Abcarian: Transgender issues aren’t a top voter concern. So, why is Trump’s campaign obsessed with them?
• Jackie Calmes: What do women want? Not Donald Trump.
• LZ Granderson: Trump would gut Social Security and Medicare just as boomers need them.
• Guest opinion: Voting in America is still secure. But a dark anti-election movement seeks to change that.

This morning’s must reads

Megan Baca, left, founder of California Innocence Advocates and an adjunct professor at California Western School of Law, is with Humberto Duran in Long Beach in May.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

He spent 30 years in prison, where he was beaten and shot. Was he actually innocent? The Times’ Keri Blakinger chronicles the case of Humberto Duran, who was arrested on suspicion of murder in 1993, implicated by a teenage witness who has since recanted her account. Duran’s advocates accuse Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies of framing him for the murder.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your downtime

Ester De Sa Almeida is immersed in “Invisible Ballet,” an exhibit by Mauro Pace at a Balloon Museum show at Ace Mission Studios in Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• 🎈 What to know about L.A.’s whimsical new Balloon Museum.
• 🎭 Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow bring their star power in the Broadway play “The Roommate” and discuss friendship and longevity in theater.
• 🥘 Check out 15 great places open on Monday nights from our 101 Best L.A. Restaurants guide.

Staying in

• 📚 Looking for something to read? Here are 10 books to add to your reading list in November.
• 🧑‍🍳 Here’s a recipe for mixiotes de pollo.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

A question for you: What’s your favorite political drama or comedy?

With election week here, what are some fictionalized political TV shows and movies you’ve enjoyed? Some personal favorites include Veep, All the President’s Men and The Crown.

Feel free to email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might be included in the newsletter this week.

And finally ... your photo of the day

Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Today’s photo is from Times staff photographer Brian van der Brug. Li’l Tokio Giants first baseman Dan Kwong, left, fields a pick-off throw as a Lodi JACL Templars base runner dives back safely during the first commemoration game on the restored baseball field at Manzanar National Historic Site.

Manzanar was one of 10 camps where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans — the vast majority of them U.S. citizens born and raised in this country — were incarcerated during World War II. “Baseball, the most American of sports, served as a desperately needed diversion,” The Times’ Jack Dolan wrote in late October. “Some camps had up to 30 teams. As the war dragged on, they were sometimes allowed to travel from one camp to another and play against one another.”

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Amy Hubbard, deputy editor, Fast Break

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