The Political Climate & The Nervous System
Whether it’s rising hate crimes, immigration rhetoric, global conflicts in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, or anti-Muslim and anti-Hindu tensions surfacing publicly, our bodies register it, even when we’re not directly impacted. Keep in mind that many South Asian families carry intergenerational memories of:
Partition
Civil war
Religious violence
Colonization
Forced migration
Economic instability
When political instability resurfaces here or abroad, it can activate something ancestral. Your nervous system doesn’t always differentiate between “this is on the news” and “this is happening to us.” It can feel deeply personal and can impact the way you experience symptoms of trauma, depression, and anxiety. Your body and brain are on high alert to help you survive and stay safe.
Why It Feels So Helpless
There are a few layers here.
1. We Were Raised to Keep Our Heads Down
Many of us were taught:
Don’t cause trouble.
Focus on your education.
Be grateful.
Don’t get involved in politics.
Safety, for our parents, often meant invisibility. Keep your head down and the rest will follow. Don’t let others see you because existing is not safe. Unfortunately, invisibility has a cost. When something unjust happens, and you feel like you shouldn’t speak, that silence can turn into helplessness (or anxiety, depression, even chronic pain and illness). The cost of keeping quiet is actually quite high because it can cost you your wellbeing and quality of life.
2. We Carry Collective Responsibility
In South Asian communities, the line between “me” and “us” is blurry.
When something happens to:
immigrants
Muslims
Sikhs
Hindus
brown women
international students
…it feels personal because it is. Our identities are layered, and when one layer is targeted, the whole system shakes.
3. Doom-Scrolling
Consuming news is not the same as influencing change, but our brains may confuse the two.
The more we scroll, the more we feel informed. The more informed we feel, the more distressed we become. The more distressed we feel, the more powerless we feel. You get it. It becomes a loop.
Hopelessness vs. Helplessness
Hopelessness says: “Nothing will get better.”
Helplessness says: “There’s nothing I can do.”
Both are heavy and can feel defeating, but helplessness often means you care deeply, and care is fuel. The question becomes, where do we direct it?
Using That Energy for Good
1. Regulate Before You Mobilize
You cannot organize from a dysregulated nervous system. Before reposting, debating, or reacting:
Take a 10-minute walk.
Put your phone down.
Name what you’re feeling.
Breathe in for 4, out for 6.
Call someone safe.
Grounded action > reactive action.
2. Shrink the Circle of Control
You can’t fix global politics, but you can:
Support one local business owned by someone from your community.
Donate $10 to a grassroots organization.
Check in on a friend who is impacted.
Attend one community event.
Write to one elected official.
Small actions compound. In Canada, organizations like South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario and Canadian Council of Muslim Women are doing meaningful advocacy work. You don’t need to carry everything because there is a community out there that has the same interests as you! You just have to find it and join that community in whatever capacity you can. Just pick one lane.
3. Have Hard Conversations at Home
If your family avoids politics or says:
“Stay out of it.”
“Don’t post.”
“Just focus on your career.”
You can gently explore:
What are we afraid of?
What does safety mean to us?
What would speaking up cost? What would silence cost?
Intergenerational healing happens in these conversations. If you are not ready to navigate these conversations, you can always treat these questions as journal prompts and use them for your own reflection first.
4. Build Cross-Community Solidarity
Political systems thrive when communities are divided. South Asians are not a monolith. We are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Tamil, Punjabi, Gujarati, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Nepali and more. Show up for each other’s pain. Support Black, Indigenous, Palestinian, Jewish, queer, and immigrant communities too. Oppression is interconnected, but so is liberation.
5. Protect Your Joy
I know, I know. The little pockets of joy are fleeting. But you cannot pour from an empty cup and in order to fill your cup, you will need to intentionally show up for yourself during these dark times.
Cook food from home, dance at weddings, celebrate festivals, laugh loudly, fall in love, build community. Whatever it is that you need to do. Joy is resistance! :) Remember that your ancestors survived through music, food, storytelling, and faith.
6. Channel Rage Into Creation
You may not have been taught how to express anger or rage yet, and that is okay. Here are some ways you can make sure you are not suppressing rage:
Write.
Create.
Host a discussion.
Start a book club.
Launch a fundraiser.
Mentor someone younger.
Run for local boards.
Volunteer at a community center.
If you’re in Ontario, consider engaging with local civic structures or attending town halls in cities like Toronto or Hamilton. Power grows where participation grows.
7. Get Support
Political stress compounds personal stress.
If you’re already navigating:
family conflict
people-pleasing
anxiety
burnout
This climate can amplify it. Therapy can help you strengthen your capacity to stay grounded in unstable times. Community care and professional care can coexist. Hopelessness tells us the future is already decided, but history tells us otherwise. Our parents and grandparents migrated across oceans. They rebuilt from scratch. They endured discrimination and still created homes. We come from people who survived. You are overwhelmed right now, and feelings are temporary.
At Mango Grove Psychotherapy & Wellness, we can help you navigate the heaviness and all that comes with it. Match with one of our therapists today and you will hear from us shortly!
