Global Crises in the Therapy Room: What Therapists Are Noticing—and Why It Matters

Lately, many therapists are hearing a similar refrain from clients, even when they don’t bring up world events directly:

“I’m exhausted.” “I can’t focus.” “I feel on edge all the time.” “I don’t know why I’m so emotional.” "I can't seem to put down my phone." "I am experiencing a lot of dread."

These experiences are not happening in a vacuum. Global crises, humanitarian emergencies, political instability, climate-related disasters, economic uncertainty—are increasingly shaping the emotional landscape clients bring into therapy. Even when clients aren’t actively watching the news, their nervous systems often know something is wrong.

This post explores how global crises show up in the therapy room, why these reactions are deeply human, and how therapy can offer grounding in an unstable world.

How Global Crises Show Up in Therapy

1. Heightened Anxiety Without a Clear Source

Many clients report a generalized sense of anxiety that feels difficult to explain. There may be no immediate personal crisis, yet their bodies remain in a state of vigilance.

This can look like:

• Persistent worry or dread

• Difficulty sleeping or relaxing

• Increased irritability or restlessness

• A sense that something bad is about to happen

When the world feels unpredictable, the nervous system often stays on high alert; even when daily life appears “fine.”

2. Emotional Numbness and Detachment

For some, the response is the opposite of anxiety. Clients may feel disconnected, flat, or emotionally shut down.

This can include:

• Trouble accessing emotions

• Feeling distant from others

• A sense of moving through life on autopilot

Numbness is not indifference. It is often a protective response to overwhelm, especially when distress feels too large or constant to process fully.

3. Old Trauma Being Reactivated

Global crises can echo earlier experiences of danger, loss, displacement, or lack of control. Clients with trauma histories may notice symptoms resurfacing, even if the current events are not directly related to their past.

This may show up as:

• Increased intrusive thoughts or memories

• Strong emotional reactions that feel disproportionate

• A return of coping strategies they thought they had “outgrown”

Trauma is stored in the body, and reminders of global threat can activate it without conscious awareness.

4. Shame About Emotional Responses

A common theme in sessions is shame:

“Other people have it worse.” “I shouldn’t be this upset.” “Why am I struggling when nothing directly happened to me?”

This comparison often leads clients to minimize their own distress, even as their symptoms intensify. Emotional pain does not require permission, and suffering is not a competition.

5. Strain on Relationships

Global stressors frequently spill into relationships. Clients report more conflict, withdrawal, or emotional distance with partners, family members, and friends.

Differences in beliefs, values, or coping styles can feel sharper during times of widespread uncertainty. Even aligned relationships may feel strained as people manage stress differently.

Why These Responses Are Normal

Humans were not designed to absorb constant information about global suffering. Our nervous systems evolved to respond to immediate, local threats; not a 24-hour stream of crisis happening everywhere at once.

Feeling anxious, tired, numb, or emotionally reactive in response to global events is not a personal failing. It is a reasonable response to prolonged exposure to uncertainty, injustice, and perceived danger.

How Therapy Can Help

Therapy does not exist to “fix” the world—but it can help clients feel more resourced within it.

In the therapy room, this often means:

• Naming what’s happening so clients feel less alone or “crazy”

• Supporting nervous system regulation, not just insight

• Making space for grief, anger, and fear without rushing toward positivity

• Helping clients clarify boundaries around news consumption and emotional labor

• Reconnecting clients to agency, values, and meaning in small, tangible ways

Therapy becomes a place to slow down, metabolize what the world keeps throwing at us, and remember that safety can still exist; at least in moments.

A Gentle Reminder

If you’ve been feeling off lately, struggling to focus, or more emotionally reactive than usual, you are not imagining it. The world has been asking a lot of our nervous systems.

You don’t need to carry it alone.

Therapy offers a space to make sense of what you’re feeling, reconnect with yourself, and find steadiness, even when the world feels anything but steady. Our practice is accepting new clients, and we’d be honored to support you in finding grounding, clarity, and care during this time.