Overwhelmed by distressing news? How to understand and soothe your Anxiety in Uncertain Times
- Dionne My Mindful Counsellor
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
When the World feels stormy and unsafe and you feel anxious… here’s some tips…
Trade wars. Real wars. Job insecurity. Headlines of world leaders bullying and belittling others, bragging and wanting and requiring others to beg. Broken systems and inadequate national resources to fix them. Just an average front page in the past few weeks.
It’s not surprising we feel sad, apprehensive and fearful about the world!
This isn’t just about money and financial news…. It’s about change and uncertainty and the impact uncertainty has on us and our sense of emotional safety.
You might not have American stocks but if you’re lying awake at night wondering how to stretch a salary, keep or get a job, find a house or help your kids to not turn out bullies or materialistic, you’re already probably anxious as a result of the impact of world events, in your family and in your life.
Uncertainty hits the nervous system because it is a threat. When we feel a threat, we can then become hyper-alert, anxious, and even get to exhaustion from fear and anxiety about the future.
It’s not weakness—it’s just survival reactions in times of change.
But underlying anxiety doesn’t have to become your default.
Here are 4 small ways to steady yourself:
1. Limit the news – Pick one time a day to check headlines from balanced sources.
2. Name the grief – It’s okay to mourn the life you thought you’d continue to have and to understand that fear of losing stability is at least likely in part why we might be feeling anxious of late when hear the news.
3. Focus on what you can control – A budget, a conversation to understand more, a small step forward. I coach about the 'lanes of control' or the 'circles of influence' and this helps many of my clients understand where to put their energy and where it is wasted.
4. Speak the fear aloud – You’re not alone. Share it. Process it. Don’t carry it in silence. But I’d suggest talking to someone who is not going to politicise your emotional need to talk; someone who can support you to talk about your fears not activate them further by polarising the politics and issues.
5. Be mindful. Think about now and here. We likely have a feeling if safety in this moment. Try to stay there rather than churning over past news or future worries. Give your nervous system these reset breaks as often as you can.
We can’t fix the world—but we can try to protect our peace and start rewriting our own anxiety story.
We can support others and feel connected which regulates the nervous system.
We could use this to even learn new things: change is inevitable, how to stay grounded, how to be more comfortable whilst feeling uncomfortable for example.
We can get in touch with our neighbours and see how to do one small thing to make the world better to take some control and use up some of the nervous energy.
With care. With support. With courage. Like we know we can… Like as women we do so often transform pain to something beautiful and positive.
Remember, you are not broken if you’re experiencing more nervousness, worries or anxiety.
You’re just trying to adapt and survive in uncertainty. I am certainly using my regulation strategies to reassure my body until things become more certain. I hope you can too.
If you feel you’d like to learn how to calm and soothe your fears and anxieties please drop me a message. mymindfulcounsellor@gmail.com
Art: By Me using AI
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