Key points from today’s guests:

Greg Nawalanic, Psy.D., clinical psychologist, The University of Kansas Health System

• Around 90 percent of my sessions have focused in some capacity on the election results. When you have friends or family that were opposing your candidate, try to be gracious about it, because remember that just as invested as you were, people on the other side were equally invested and are now very disappointed.
• The biggest challenge here is doubling down on just being you and be the best version of yourself, and try to carry that forward. If you don't like the way that politics looks and being too nasty and too ugly, then don't try to invite that into your life. Try to find that more positive space where we can engage in constructive discourse.
• There is always a certain amount of anxiety around the holidays because for adults, you straddle this line between being a parent and an adult in your own home. But then around the holidays, you come back to your family of origin, where you are still kind of pulled back into being a child.
• Everybody says they want to be perfect hosts. And while there is no such thing as perfect, anxiety looks like a chaotic sense that everything is swirling around you – with tightness in your chest, increased heart rate, sickness to your stomach.
• If you come together for the holidays, the most valuable part of that is looking around the table and seeing everybody there exactly as they are this year, because they will never be that way again. You want to look back on this Thanksgiving and think it was such a nice, lovely family time together and a great meal.
• Any substances needs to be managed and eat a snack before you go over to someone’s house for Thanksgiving dinner so you don’t get “hangry.” Alcohol and hunger can negatively impact a situation.

Jessica Hamilton, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, The University of Kansas Health System

• A lot of the political discourse has to do with some of the social media and how much they've consumed. How can we figure out how to be good sports and appreciate one another? We teach our kids this. Why are we not displaying that as adults?
• We can get really protective of our values and want to stand up for them and that makes it really difficult for us to be understanding of other people’s opinions and politics.
• It is important to go back to what your values are. If you're going to spend time with your family, the aim is to have a time together with positive interactions for the entire family.
• You get to spend time with family members that you don't see all the time -- focus on those things and those stories and the history. Find those things that bring you together to focus on rather than the things that are going to be pulling you apart.
• Hosts can set guidelines on discussion topics. Remind everyone that the idea of Thanksgiving is giving thanks and finding those positives, rather than looking for negatives.

Monday, Nov. 25 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. Many are eligible for this cancer screening, but only a fraction take advantage of it. Find out more about the test that can catch lung cancer early and increase the odds of survival.

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