1.
"I have to focus on my own mental health and well-being because it is deteriorating."
Yes, do that! I say that politics is no reason to destroy ones own well-being. Not because it is unimportant, politics can majorly impact our lives. It is because you cannot substantially influence it as a single, not rich and powerful person. You have only very little impact. So tearing yourself down is like yelling at clouds because it rains. Instead you should open an umbrella. Which means care for yourself and your friends and family first.

2.
Even though the result may seem depressing, if you look at it in more detail you see it being complicated. For instance many states voted for abortion rights, even Florida with 57%. Although it needed 60% to become law in Florida, it means a very red state still valued womens rights. And others did as well.

3.
"I disliked both of my options a lot, but contrasts like these did briefly make me question who the lesser evil even was."
This is a major problem in american politics: the focus on only two parties. This isn't just a thing with majority vote, other majority vote countries like France, the UK or Japan have more than two relevant parties. This is special for the US and it poisons politics. You shouldn't have to decide between two evils, you should decide on uplifting options. That is difficult to offer with just two parties and pretty much impossible with both going more or less crazy (in different ways). Both the Republicans and the Democrats would have like they acted committed political suicide in a country with more than two parties.

4.
"To sum up the core flaws of the Harris candidacy as I see them, the real issue wasn't really her campaign. All in all, she ran a very impressive one, IMO."
Agreed. Harris didn't do a bad campaign, especially given how late she had to start. The problem is you don't win elections on campaigns alone. Campaigns don't exist in a vacuum. The democratic party is more than just her campaign and many of the democrats did more stupid shit. But elections is also more influenced than only party members, people on the press that is seen as dem-leaning or even stupid Tweets pro Dems are seen by people as part of the democratic package. And obviously politics, especially if your party is currently governing and did so for the last four years. You start to win elections much earlier than just the campaign.

5.
One of the articles you linked had the most damning thing to say about democrats:
"The only places Vice President Kamala Harris made real gains on Trump were with white, educated and wealthy voters."
This right there is crazy! That is the republican base back in the days of Bush. The democrats need to fix this. A problem seems to be, that democrats now for years take the votes of black and latino people and of women for granted. But every voter is one you have to fight for. If you lose interest in them, they will lose interest in you over time. And yes working class. The democrats can't be a party for wealthy well educated people.

6.
Luckily not all in the democratic party are totally dense. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for instance asked people and posted the answer. This is needed to get a better result next time. People like AOC are the future, the democrats as a whole, the democratic leadership needs to follow their example and actually listen to voters instead of condemning them or blaming external effects.

Overall, don't let the result pull you down too much. It may be bad, but it isn't the end of the world, life goes on. Some shitty things will probably happen, but you will find ways to manage. And the next election will be happening soon. When I was young, George W. Bush was the worst president of all time. Who still remembers him?
Care for your personal life first and politics only second. This is always the way to stay sane, regardless of which time and which country.
And thanks for the long and insightful post.

Heard ya, Jaicee......My personal favorite life learning game, is the "Life is Strange" series. Very powerful.