Prepare for the age of Boris anxiety – Britain’s underqualified PM is going to play havoc with our mental health

Within minutes of Boris Johnson being announced as the UK’s new prime minister, social media was flooded with despair.

People joked that they were going to “head outside and scream” to deal with their anger and frustration. Jokes aside – although there is really nothing to laugh about – this is only the start of the distress to come.

Politics anxiety is a very real phenomenon that affects people to a detrimental degree, and never has this been as prevalent as in the current political climate. A significant political shift, such as electing a new leader, causes a cultural and economic ripple effect (the pound has already dropped since yesterday’s announcement).

Take Brexit, for instance. According to a poll by Britain Thinks, six out of 10 British people feel that this has affected their mental health negatively. Another survey, this one by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) claimed that this figure was even worse, at one in three.

Meanwhile, across the pond, where president Donald Trump – a man who has offended almost every minority group and bullies his own country’s congresswomen – has caused a phenomenon which has been dubbed “Trump anxiety disorder” or “Trump anxiety”.

Is “Johnson anxiety” to follow?

It’s completely normal if you’re feeling a sudden urge to weep, especially when we consider how our new prime minister obtained his role. His ascent to power is disconcerting not only because Johnson is more well-known for his hairdo than his political success – it’s because he’s done so despite the many scandals he’s been embroiled in.

His track record of mistakes speaks for itself; from racist remarks, such as when he called black people “piccaninnies”, to the reckless comments he made about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe when he was the UK’s Foreign Secretary, which almost caused her more jail time in Iran. Let’s not forget when he referred to gay people as “tank-topped bumboys” or compared Muslim women who wear burkas to “letterboxes”.

For better or worse, politicians purpose know that politics is a game of emotions. The cleverest politicians utilise this as a method to sway voters, to gain their confidence and to influence their thinking.

According to researchers, this is a winning strategy. Jonathan Renshon, one of the researchers for a study on the connection between emotions and political attitudes, recently wrote: “We found that the anxiety we generated was powerful enough that people couldn't simply turn it off, it carried over to unrelated domains and actually influenced people's political beliefs, particularly their attitudes towards immigrants”.

Brexit is the perfect example. In the days after the referendum in 2016, more than a hundred cases of hate crime and abuse were reported.

Johnson’s rise to power is another example. Johnson was never the best candidate in the leadership race, but he didn’t need to be. Instead, he avoided interviews and conflicts, and simply refused to answer questions he wasn’t comfortable with. It’s the same reason we have no idea how many children he’s really got.

Most of us, whether we like him or not, have for years tolerated Johnson and treated his mishaps as “Boris being Boris” – which is exactly what he has relied on.

To compare, he’s the strange relative at family dinners, the one who fills you with unease, but whose ridiculous comments you still laugh off. Because no one ever expects that strange relative to become the leader of a country. Which is exactly why it’s so scary, and why it’s making everyone so anxious.

For many, Johnson coming to power also signals the end of meritocracy, which causes feelings of upset. Throughout our lives, we’re told that if we work hard, we will see results. And yet here is a man who has many times been exposed for his errors in judgement, and rarely been held accountable, but still able to secure the most important role in the UK.

Add to that the fact that only 0.13 per cent of the population technically voted for him, and it’s no wonder we feel hopeless – because it reminds us just how little power we have when it comes to the big decisions.

Feeling a lack of control and uncertainty about the future is the perfect breeding ground for anxiety. If you’re having trouble sleeping, can’t concentrate and are constantly worrying about the future, it’s possible that it’s connected to what’s happening in the UK, or the world, for that matter.

There is no perfect solution for dealing with mental health, nor is there a “cure”. However, you can manage your emotions or find ways to improve your symptoms.

For some, this means getting more involved and regaining some of that control that they feel they’ve lost by signing petitions, joining local political groups or taking part in a march.

For others, it’s about zoning out from the situation altogether or distracting themselves – changing your filters on social media to not include politics could be a start – or even having faith that it will all work out for the best.

There’s no right or wrong, but make no mistake – Boris anxiety is coming, so prepare yourself.