It’s hard to deny we are living through particularly difficult times. Turning on the news feels like bracing for an assault on our humanity and the humanity of others. The past few years have felt like a barrage of incrementally more inhumane, depraved and vile escalation of hatred and bigotry. With those constant assaults, it is hard to process all this information while remaining grounded and present. So how do we remain available to fight the good fight when our internal world becomes just as chaotic as the collective? Let’s talk about it.
Can you relate?
If you’re anything like us you might be feeling tired, overwhelmed and maybe a little powerless. We’re living in this weird in between where we understand the privilege of being able to watch the news and not be the news. And yet, we feel a deep ache and distress over what’s happening in the world, in our families and in our homes.
Under this capitalist structure, the rich keep getting richer and the vast majority of the world continues to fight for a chance to feel financial stability. With the rising price of literally everything, there’s no time to let up the daily grind. We have to find ways to cope because rent is still due and food needs to be on the table.
What we are experiencing is often referred to as collective trauma or collective grief. And just like any other trauma, we use coping strategies to get us through the days. These are necessary and intelligent attempts to regulate ourselves but over time can take a toll on our overall wellness.
What is collective grief?
A Shared Weight
Unlike personal grief , collective grief is felt by a group of people. You may have felt the heavy atmosphere when everyone is processing the same tragedy, economic instability, or social injustice at once. The experience is felt as a “we” rather than an “I”. In recent months there have been so much injustice and tragedy from the climate emergency, to the genocide and displacement of people in Sudan, Gaza & Congo to the ongoing threats toward the people of Iran, the continued instability in Haiti, Burkina Faso & Mali, the overwhelming growing sentiments of hate towards immigrant communities and the rise of over white supremacy; we as a collective are grieving loss after loss.
Loss of the “Status Quo”
Collective grief isn’t always about literal death. It can be the loss of a sense of safety, the loss of a predictable future, or the loss of trust in institutions or even people. We can mourn the idea we had of the state of the world or perhaps the idea we had of basic human goodness. This can lead to a sense of emotional burn out or vicarious trauma.
Can Lead to Secondary Traumatic Stress ( a.k.a. Vicarious Trauma)
Our brains and bodies are wired for deep empathy. When witnessing someone in pain, our brains simulate that distress through mirror neurons. Even if we aren’t directly impacted ( although often we are), the constant exposure to the suffering of others creates a cumulative emotional toll. This continued emotional weight impacts how much capacity we have to live out our day to day lives.
Exacerbated by an Absence of Traditional Rituals
When we lose a family member, we often have funerals, wakes or other rituals to help us process. There is a social agreement that physical death must be recognized, acknowledged and processed. With collective grief, there are often no formal rituals. This can leave us feeling “stuck” because there is no clear beginning or end to the mourning process.
Can Lead to Compassion Fatigue
Because collective grief is often relentless, it can lead to emotional burnout. To survive, our brains might try to “shut off” or become numb to the news. This isn’t a lack of empathy; it’s a defense mechanism against an overwhelming amount of shared pain.
But what is the impact of our well-being?
Chronic Uncertainty
Collective grief often stems from a traumatic event (war, hateful speech and rhetoric, oppression, pandemic, climate disaster) that shatters the roadmap people had for their lives. This leads to chronic uncertainty, where people stop planning for the future because the world feels too unstable to bank on.
Hyper-Irritability/Vigilance and Social Friction
Because everyone’s nervous system is “fried” at the same time, collective patience disappears. We stop seeing the basic goodness in one other and feel at odds with one another. You might notice increased road rage, shorter tempers, and more aggressive discourse on social media. This is a form of collective “fight” response to the feeling of powerlessness.
Moral Injury
Seeing widespread suffering often leads to a breakdown in trust toward institutions (governments, capitalism, media, religious leaders). If the system can’t prevent the tragedy, we can often feel a deep sense of betrayal, feelings of withdrawal and disconnection.
Somatic Impacts
In moments of collective grief there are heightened reports of brain fog, doom-scrooling in an attempt to dissociate, and a general lack of physical energy. The body is stuck in a low-level “freeze” state and our energy reserves are running on low.
No energy left for justice and advocacy work
Because of this constant state of fight/flight/freeze we become immobilized. Not because we are lazy, but because we are overwhelmed. Fighting for justice and doing advocacy work requires high-levels of executive function such as wondering where to donate, which protest to attend, which post to share widely. But in this overwhelmed state, your system is on a “power-save” mode just to get through the day. Furthermore, advocacy and justice work is fueled by a sense of agency, the belief that your actions can cause a change. Collective grief and constant exposure to atrocity strip that agency away. That sense of agency allows is to imagine a better world but trauma is a thief of the imagination.
So what can we do to keep fighting the good fight?
Community has and will always be the answer.
Collective grief cannot be solved in isolation. Because the trauma is shared, healing occurs in connection and community. Indigenous knowledges have always known that wellness is a state of relational harmony. Relational harmony to the earth, other animals, self, and community. Healing is not about getting over the loss; it is about weaving the tragedy into a shared story of resilience, ensuring that no one is left to carry the weight of a changing world alone. A simple act of validation and acknowledgement of our collective pain can be deeply healing. Being able to share space together, helping each other through the distressing intersections. Spaces like these can help us turn grief into a shared sense of purpose fueling incredible and powerful movements.
Reach out.
Healing from collective grief is not a journey you have to map out alone. If you find yourself in a state of overwhelmed, one of the most radical act of justice you can perform for yourself is to reach out and reconnect with the collective. We encourage you to keep searching for online communities and social media spaces that offer a soft place to land. For those seeking professional support that honours your lived experience, Healing in Colour provides a directory of counsellors who hold deep anti-oppressive values and understand that your mental health is inextricably linked to the world around you. Try to invite you to check out our newsletter to see what upcoming events and gatherings are happening; these spaces are designed to help us move from isolation back into connection.
We were never meant to carry it all by ourselves. We have each other and that’s something we can trust.
Additional Resources
Find an anti-oppressive BIPOC therapist in so-called Canada
- Find a therapist that specializes in collective trauma on our Therapist Directory
Related Reading
- How to Find a BIPOC Therapist in Canada: A Guide
- Depression in Second-Generation Immigrants: Why You Feel Guilty for Struggling
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About Healing in Colour
Healing in Colour is a directory of BIPOC therapists and allied professionals across Canada who are committed to anti-oppressive values. We envision a world where BIPOC, in all our intersections, have access to therapy that supports our healing and liberation.
Learn more: About Us |Our Statement of Values