There comes a point where staying silent stops being a strength and starts becoming a quiet form of harm.
This month, I can admit that I’ve been experiencing emotional exhaustion, not the kind that comes from doing too much, but the kind that comes from witnessing too much. The kind that settles in when the world feels unfamiliar, heavy, and morally disoriented.
Lately, it has felt like watching a dystopian reality unfold in real time. Moments that should never be controversial become debates. Lives lost unjustly are dissected, rationalized, and argued over as if compassion itself were negotiable.
This past weekend, the news highlighted a nurse whose life was taken under circumstances that showed no justification for the level of force used. The video made that clear. And yet, as it spread across social media, what followed wasn’t collective grief or shared outrage; instead, it was division.
A few weeks before that, it was a mother of three. Again, the footage circulated everywhere. Again, the same pattern emerged.
These are not situations that should fracture us. They are not moral puzzles. They are human tragedies. As a society, we should be able to agree on that.
I keep thinking about 1984 by George Orwell, where he described a world where truth is blurred, reality is reframed, and people are slowly conditioned to doubt what they see with their own eyes. I never imagined that book would feel less like fiction and more like a warning we ignored.
When the Nation Is in Distress, the Nervous System Feels It
We are living in a time of collective stress. And yet, most of us are still expected to function as if nothing is happening.
We go to work.
We raise our families.
We pay bills.
We keep our heads down.
We avoid “politics.” We avoid discomfort. We avoid saying the wrong thing because we’re told it’s safer to stay quiet.
But silence has a cost.
When we witness injustice and suppress our response to it, that emotional energy doesn’t disappear, but it can turn inward. It becomes heavy. You start feeling helpless. A sense of powerlessness that quietly overwhelms the nervous system.
This is how emotional exhaustion builds, not always from personal hardship, but from unprocessed collective grief.
We must understand that we are living through a period of collective psychological strain. Even when trauma does not happen directly to us, repeated exposure to violence, injustice, and moral conflict can register in the nervous system as a threat. The brain does not distinguish well between the danger we experience and the danger we repeatedly witness. Over time, this can lead to emotional numbing, hypervigilance, anxiety, or exhaustion. Many people aren’t “overreacting”; they are responding normally to an abnormal environment.
The Tension Between Using Your Voice and Protecting Your Peace
Many people are asking the same questions right now:
- How do we care without burning out?
- How do we stay informed without becoming consumed?
- How do we speak up without losing our peace—or our sense of safety?
If speaking out damages your brand, then what do you truly stand for? We are living in a time when future generations will ask what we did, and silence will be part of that answer.
When silence is prioritized over humanity, something is deeply wrong.
At the same time, constant outrage without support is unsustainable. Mental health requires both truth and care.
So how do we hold both?
Caring for Your Mental Health in a Time of Disarray
Here are grounding practices that don’t require you to disengage from reality but help you stay emotionally regulated within it.
1. Seek Community
Isolation intensifies distress. Find spaces either online or in person, somewhere that shares your values, empathy, and thoughtful dialogue. You don’t need everyone to agree; you just need to not feel alone.
2. Talk to Someone You Trust
You don’t have to carry your reactions quietly. A trusted friend can help you process emotions before they become internalized stress.
3. Read for Decompression
Books can offer both escape and perspective. Reading allows your nervous system to step out of constant vigilance and into rest, even if it is temporary. I’ve shared a thoughtful list of books for growth, faith, and empowermentthat I personally recommend.
4. Move Your Body
Psychology consistently shows that exercise reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression. Movement helps release stored stress hormones and brings the body back into regulation.
5. Pray
This is my anchor. Even when religious leaders disappoint, God does not. Prayer creates space to release what we cannot fix and to reconnect with hope, justice, and peace beyond human systems. I enjoy my morning devotional with Jesus Calling which always sounds like a personal message.
You Are Not Weak for Feeling This
If you feel tired, heavy, or emotionally overwhelmed by what’s happening in the world, there is nothing wrong with you. This is a normal response to abnormal circumstances.
Holding it together for too long doesn’t make you strong; it makes you silent in ways that cost your mental health.
You are allowed to care.
You are allowed to rest.
You are allowed to speak wisely, thoughtfully, and humanely.
And you are allowed to protect your peace without abandoning your conscience.
