Civil Unrest and Mental Health: The Hidden Anxiety Response
Civil Unrest and Mental Health
When Collective Anxiety Sneaks Into Your Body & Mind
When the streets feel unsteady, the first thing I notice isn’t fear, it’s my body. I’m standing at the kitchen counter doing something ordinary, coffee, emails, the quiet inventory of a day, and I realize my shoulders are up around my ears. My jaw has that clenched, determined set that usually shows up when I’m bracing for bad news. The strange part is that nothing “bad” has happened to me. Not directly. Still, the world outside has changed its tone. Sirens feel more frequent. The air feels tight. Social media is a stream of shaky footage and loud certainty. Friends who usually share family updates are suddenly posting like amateur war correspondents. This is the quiet intersection of civil unrest and mental health. Collective anxiety can move through a community without ever stepping onto your street.
Even as a therapist with an M.Div., unrest can still sneak in
Here’s what I can tell you as a therapist, and as someone with an M.Div., with a whole treasure trove of tools and theology to draw from: unrest can still sneak in. It doesn’t always arrive as panic. Sometimes it shows up as readiness. A low-grade vigilance that feels responsible, even righteous. I can start doing the emotional math without noticing: If the world is unstable, I should stay alert.If I stay alert, I’m prepared. If I’m prepared, I’m safe.
Except preparedness has no finish line. So the mind keeps scanning. The thumb keeps scrolling. The stress cycle stays open.
The doom scrolling loop and nervous system dysregulation
One night I told myself I’d check the news for five minutes. Ten, max. A clip played, then another, crowds surging, voices rising, a line of officers, someone running. I set my phone down, but my nervous system stayed on duty. I woke up at 2:17 a.m. with that prickly, wired sensation under the skin, the feeling that something might happen, even in a quiet house. That is how doom scrolling turns into nervous system dysregulation. Your body responds to threat cues in real time, even when you are physically safe.
Community trauma, even from a distance
This is one of the most misunderstood effects of public unrest on mental health: you don’t have to be in the street to feel it in your chest. You don’t have to be at the center of it to carry it. Your brain absorbs instability through sound, screens, conversations, and the subtle cues that tell you, The social world is unpredictable right now.
For many people, it becomes a kind of community trauma. Trust thins out. Patience shortens. Sleep gets lighter. Normal errands start to feel like risk assessment.
Faith and anxiety in uncertain times
And for people of faith, the weight can press in a particular way. There’s often a spiritual dissonance in trying to stay tender in a world that keeps rewarding hardness. You want to care about truth and justice and mercy, without becoming contemptuous. You want to stay awake, without living on adrenaline. You want to pray, without feeling numb. Faith and anxiety can collide here. Not because faith fails, but because the human nervous system has limits.
Christian lament: A grounded way to carry moral pain
This is where I return to something Scripture gives us that many believers were never taught to use: lament. Lament is faith telling the truth in the presence of God. It refuses denial, and it refuses despair. It makes room for fear, grief, anger, confusion, and it brings them somewhere holy instead of letting them leak into your sleep, your relationships, and your nervous system. When I’m carrying that low grade vigilance, lament helps me name what’s happening inside me, and it helps my body begin to stand down. Not because the world is instantly stable, but because I’m no longer holding the weight alone.
Free resource: A simple Lament guide for anxious days
If your soul feels tired, if your mind won’t power down, or if you can’t find words in prayer right now, check out this free Lament resource you can use today, short, practical, and Scripture-rooted. Click the link to download it and let it guide you into honest prayer when life feels unsteady.
As always, if you’d like additional support, we’re here to walk with you. We offer a free 45-minute one-on-one session to help you get clarity, steady your next steps, and feel supported.
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