Therapists have reported an increase in complaints of anxiety linked to geopolitical tensions, as the US war on Iran continues to raise the spectre of a wider regional conflict and Russia maintains its years-long assault on Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The founders of two therapy clinics said concerns over wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe had left people feeling \u201cexhausted\u201d and \u201cheavy\u201d \u2013 complaints they said featured in discussions with both new and existing patients.<\/p>\n
This comes come two weeks after US President Donald Trump declared war on Iran, striking the country\u2019s leadership and military.<\/p>\n
Paths Clinic founder and therapist Charlene Duca told Times of Malta she had noticed a \u201cmarked increase in anxiety linked to the geopolitical climate\u201d both among her personal clients and in new referrals to the clinic.<\/p>\n
This, she said, \u201csuggests something shifting more broadly rather than individual vulnerability\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat seems to be unsettling people is a psychological shift; the long-held assumption that war and instability belong to a past generation or to troubled countries elsewhere is breaking down, and the sense that danger is no longer comfortably distant is difficult to sit with.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Quiet helplessness\u2019<\/p>\n
While some patients were monitoring the news \u201ccompulsively, others are deflecting or avoiding it entirely, but what is common across the board is ruminative thinking and a feeling of heaviness\u201d, said Duca.<\/p>\n
The psychologist and psychotherapist described the complaints as more of a \u201cquiet helplessness\u201d than outright panic, and a \u201csense of moving closer to something terrible\u201d.<\/p>\n
And while some were expressing frustration at the US president, there was \u201cwider confusion about who, if anyone, might help\u201d, said Duca, adding that despite the fears, patients had not made significant life changes, with travel plans and routines remaining intact.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are holding on to normal life until they have more information,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Duca explained that while anxiety typically drives people to act, seeking to regain a feeling of control or safety, \u201cgeopolitical anxiety is particularly difficult to make sense of because that drive has nowhere useful to go\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe threat feels too vast and too far beyond individual control, and so rather than finding relief, the worry simply sits there, with nowhere to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Losing sleep\u2019<\/p>\n
Willingness founder and therapist Matthew Bartolo also reported heightened fears but said that while some new patients had presented at the clinic with complaints of anxiety, such concerns were featuring more among existing patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome patients are losing sleep because of anxiety over what\u2019s going on and how it might affect them,\u201d he said, adding that while such fears had persisted in recent months as various geopolitical situations continued, the recent Iranian strikes made such worries feel \u201cmore pressing\u201d.<\/p>\n
Those fears typically were seen in patients already exhibiting anxiety, he said, emphasising patients\u2019 symptoms had \u201cintensified\u201d. Complaints about anxiety at the situation in the Middle East were up across the board, said Bartolo.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the long-running conflict in Ukraine continues to provoke feelings of worry, exacerbated by people \u201cwatching online footage of Ukrainian soldiers and empathising with them\u201d.<\/p>\n
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And videos showing scenes of devastation caused by war, juxtaposed with images of the same areas before the conflict were leading viewers to become \u201cemotionally exhausted\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Bartolo stressed that social media played a significant role in exacerbating fears, pushing reported levels of anxiety steadily up over the past six to seven years.<\/p>\n
Focus on what you can control<\/p>\n
The psychotherapist said that while it was natural for people to feel anxious during times of war, he recommended limiting exposure to reporting about war, \u201cwhich can intensify anxiety without increasing control\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cFocus instead on what is within your influence: daily routines, physical activity and supportive relationships\u201d, he said, adding that \u201cgrounding techniques\u201d such as slow breathing and walking can provide relief.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking openly with others also helps prevent anxiety from becoming overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duca said it was helpful to challenge catastrophic thinking by distinguishing between what is possible and what is probable.<\/p>\n
She emphasised the importance of maintaining daily routines and staying socially connected, while also advocating for breathing exercises as well as meditation, \u201cmindfulness and grounding techniques\u201d \u2013 which should be practised daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately the aim is not to avoid or deny reality, but to prevent the mind from living in constant uncertainty,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal is to remain informed yet still anchored in our immediate, lived experience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Therapists have reported an increase in complaints of anxiety linked to geopolitical tensions, as the US war on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-350500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}