The Heaviness You Are Feeling Is Grief
The heaviness you are feeling is grief. Collective grief can often be difficult to deal with. It is both a shared and a unique experience. It can feel overwhelming and trigger our past traumas and losses, and exacerbate any pre-existing psychological distress. It can also open our eyes to the dark side of humanity, and shatter our assumptions of what we thought was a ‘Just and Fair world’. Grief consumes our entire body. Just like trauma, it provokes our ‘fight and flight’ response. We might feel more tired than usual, lose our appetite or have trouble sleeping. There is no unique or right way to grieve. People could feel emotionally overwhelmed, which is similar to a soda bottle that's been vigorously shaken. It's filled with a lot of pressure, and the best way to handle it is by carefully opening and closing the cap slowly and gently to prevent it from bursting. This also applies to our emotions. After experiencing or witnessing trauma, individuals often lose their sense of...