As the US midterm elections heated up on Tuesday, online wits were quick to douse a New York Times tweet which offered “five ways to soothe election stress”, among them dunking one’s face in a bowl of iced water.
In a tweet, America’s paper of record said: “Elections and anxiety often go hand in hand. Here are some evidence-based strategies that can help you cope.”
Elections and anxiety often go hand in hand. Here are some evidence-based strategies that can help you cope. https://t.co/Bu9Bq5AVqh pic.twitter.com/WkF7ClDpyA
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 8, 2022
Uncharacteristically, the Times did not immediately cite evidence of stress, eschewing for example a link to its own report from October 2020, headlined “Presidential Elections May Be Bad For Your Health”. That report began: “The stress of presidential elections may increase the incidence of heart attacks and strokes.”
But on Tuesday, as poll-closings loomed in congressional, gubernatorial and state-level elections, the Times suggested ways to soothe stress about the fate of the House and Senate or the tooth-and-nail tussle for dogcatcher in Kalamazoo were:
Five-finger breathing: tracing the outside of your hand with one finger, breathing in while tracing up, and out while tracing down.
Cooling down: by “plung[ing] your face into a bowl with ice water for 15 to 30 seconds”.
Moving: as “even a walk around the block can offer some relief”.
Breathing “like a baby”: which involves “expanding your belly as you breathe”, thereby “send[ing] more oxygen to the brain”.
Limiting phone scrolling, by considering “plotting out specific times when you will look for election updates”.
Most forecasts have predicted Republican gains, if not an outright “red wave”. Accordingly, Republicans and figures from the rightwing and libertarian Twittersphere were quick to seize on the Times’ tweet as a sign of liberal fear.
Andrew Clark, a Republican communications strategist, wrote: “Guys, the New York Times advice for liberals melting down about the election is literally to ‘plunge their face into ice water’.”
Billy Binion, an associate editor at Reason magazine, said: “My coping strategy tonight will be knowing that at any given moment people across the country will be plunging their faces into bowls of ice water because the New York Times told them to do so.”
The rightwing glee extended across the Atlantic. Former UK Independence Party and Brexit party leader, seven-time defeated parliamentary candidate, saloon-bar philosopher and eager Trump hanger-on Nigel Farage wrote: “You cannot be serious mate.”
But liberals had fun too. Slate, for one example, took the iced water advice at face value.
Citing a leading figure in liberal midterm nightmares, the Trump-endorsed TV doctor running for Senate in Pennsylvania, the website asked: “Would plunging our faces in ice water help us accept the possibility of US Senator Dr [Mehmet] Oz?”
The site’s communications director, Katie Rayford, took the plunge. Before dunking her face in iced water, she was asked “How stressed are you right now?”
She said: “I’m gonna put myself at a solid six, six-and-a-half. I feel like the Dems are probably gonna lose the House. We’re still figuring out what’s going to happen on election night but … things are getting a little more stressful. So I thought right now was the best time to take the plunge.”
Rayford kept her face in a Tupperware bowl for 16 seconds, emitting bubbles by laughing. When she emerged, she was asked how she felt.
“I’m not gonna lie,” she said. “I feel like more stressed out. Like I feel like I almost drowned in there.”
As Slate helpfully pointed out, the Times has itself recently cast doubt on the de-stressing technique Rayford tried.
In February, the paper asked: “Cold Water Plunges Are Trendy. Can They Really Reduce Anxiety and Depression?”
It concluded: “More research is needed.”
