When the World Feels Like Too Much: On Anxiety About Current Events and Permission to Step Back
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
The world as we know it has changed. There is a heaviness that has settled into our everyday lives, one that grows with the current headlines and constant shifts in what we once believed to be stable or certain.
What do we do with it?
When Anxiety About the Current Events Becomes Its Own Weight
Often, when we feel pressure, we want to find ways to “fix” things so we can carry the weight of the world and continue with our daily lives. When a fix feels slow or impossible, we feel powerless or emotionally exhausted. So, instead of trying to escape the heaviness or solve it immediately, we can begin by creating space.
Space is not avoidance, nor is it indifference. It is the intentional act of allowing
emotions and realities to exist without demanding that we resolve them right away. It involves acknowledging sadness, anger, and grief without being driven or consumed by them.
What Creating Space Actually Means
Part of creating space is defining what it looks like for you. When it comes to the constant anxiety about current events, it might mean momentarily stepping away from the news, limiting conversations that feel overwhelming, or allowing yourself moments of quiet and rest. Space is personal, and it often involves learning when to let the world in and when to pause.
Not every moment requires your attention right away. Not every problem requires your immediate response. And, more importantly, you cannot always give them.
The Limits of Empathy
Empathy remains more important than ever. Feeling the sadness, frustration, or anger that exists in the world is a natural and human response. But empathy, like all emotions, needs restraint. Without it, we can begin to carry more than we can hold.
Choosing to step back and care for yourself does not mean you are ignoring the world or turning a blind eye to what is happening. It means you are allowing yourself the opportunity to recharge so that you can continue to engage with the world in meaningful ways. You cannot support change if you are completely depleted.
Space is where healing begins, whether in a therapist’s office, the quiet of your bedroom, or in the small moments where you intentionally choose to pause. Creating space allows us to collectively acknowledge the weight of the world while also caring for ourselves within it.
Find your space.
If you are in Houston or anywhere in Texas and find that the weight of current events has become difficult to carry alone, therapy can offer a space to set it down for a moment. Dr. Tasneem Rodriguez is a licensed psychologist at Real Talk Clinical Psychology, a clinic offering doctoral-level therapy covered by insurance. In person in Houston and online across Texas.
