How to stay grounded in uncertain times

CONSUME NEWS IN SMALL DOSES INSTEAD OF CONSTANTLY BEING ONLINE; MUTE IF CHATS AFFECT YOUR WELL-BEING

- Sonali Gupta

38-year-old male client tells me, "I feel overwhelmed, and overcome with anxiety about news. I haven't slept peacefully in days, and I wake up several times in the night to check my phone for news updates. I am constantly doom scrolling, and feeling jittery and wired."

Yet another client tells me about fights she's getting with her parents over them watching the news at a high volume and constantly updating her about everything that's going wrong. Their anxiety, she says, is rubbing off on her, and she can't concentrate at work and is falling into a spiral of melancholy.

Therapy sessions in the last couple of weeks have been filled with conversations around how the current geopolitical situation evokes travel anxiety, catastrophizing and panic attacks. Clients across age groups speak of falling-out with friends on WhatsApp groups and of disappointments at how their friends and relatives are responding to the current situation, making them wonder about the shared values or rather its absence.