You’re Not Weird for Struggling to Exist Right Now

If you’ve been finding it hard to keep going, stay motivated, or simply feel at ease in the world lately, you’re not alone and you’re certainly not weird. In fact, the intense struggles many of us are experiencing are deeply connected to what’s happening on a wider level.

Psychologist Dan Siegel talks about a concept called the “window of tolerance.” It’s the range in which we can effectively cope with stress, challenges, and emotions. Inside this window, we feel capable, balanced, and able to manage life’s difficulties. However, when stress becomes overwhelming or constant, we get pushed outside this window. We might feel hyper-aroused, anxious, restless, or on edge, hypo-aroused, numb, disconnected, or shut down.

Today, many of us are living outside of this window of tolerance, and the reasons for that are much larger than any individual failure to cope. We are in the midst of what experts call a “polycrisis,” and its effects ripple through our personal lives, our communities, and the world as a whole.

What Is a Polycrisis?

A polycrisis is not just a single crisis; it’s multiple crises happening simultaneously and interacting with each other in complex ways. Think of climate change, economic instability, social inequality, political unrest, unimaginable violence, and the global pandemic, not as separate issues, but as deeply interconnected challenges. Each one amplifies the others.

For instance, economic instability worsens the impacts of climate change because communities with fewer resources are less able to adapt to disasters like floods or fires. Social inequality makes public health crises more severe, as marginalised groups often lack access to healthcare or safe living conditions. Bombings accelerating climate change. Political polarisation complicates efforts to solve any of these problems, creating gridlock when collective action is most needed.

The polycrisis reveals the truth that our world is interconnected. What happens in one part of the system affects other parts. A drought in one region leads to food shortages elsewhere. Rising sea levels in one country lead to climate migration in another. Every thread of this global web is tied to the next. And just as the crises are connected, so are we.

The Impact on Our Minds and Bodies

When these global issues overlap, they create a kind of background stress that affects us all, whether we realise it or not. We might feel it in subtle ways. A vague sense of unease, trouble sleeping, or an inability to focus. Or we might feel it acutely, experiencing panic, anxiety, depression, or burnout. These are normal human reactions to living in a time of compounded uncertainty.

Children, too, are feeling the effects. Young people are growing up in a world where climate disasters, political upheaval, and public health scares are commonplace. Their sense of the future is shaped by these realities, often leading to heightened anxiety or hopelessness. Meanwhile, adults are expected to keep pushing forward… working, parenting, and managing daily life… under circumstances that none of us were ever prepared for.

Sure, each generation has had their struggles, but let’s stay in the here and now. And maybe if those generations sat with the pain and grief of the world, it would have been lessened for future generations. If we learn to acknowledge and not avoid or numb to what’s going on, we may have a chance. This is the premise of therapy, why can’t we apply the same concept to how we engage with the world around us?

Collectively, we are outside our window of tolerance, and the constant flood of crises is making it harder to stay grounded, calm, or optimistic. This isn’t just a personal issue; it’s a reflection of the existential challenges we are facing as a species.

Why We’re Struggling

At its core, the polycrisis speaks to the fundamental interconnectedness of life. Humans evolved in small, tightly knit communities, where we understood ourselves as part of an ecosystem. But modern life, with its fast-paced, competitive, and often individualistic demands, has distanced us from this understanding. The current global crises are a wake-up call, reminding us that we cannot exist in isolation from each other or from the planet that sustains us.

Living in this moment feels existential because it is. The systems that have held us together (economic, social, political, and environmental) are showing their cracks. We’re being forced to reckon with how unsustainable many of these systems are, not just for the Earth but for our own well-being.

Finding a Way Forward

So, how do we find our way back into our window of tolerance? How do we reclaim a sense of peace and balance when the world feels so off-kilter?

One important shift is recognizing that the solutions don’t lie solely in individual action. While self-care practices, mindfulness, and therapy are helpful, they cannot address the full scope of what we’re facing. Our healing must also be collective, rooted in community, and grounded in a deeper understanding of our interconnectedness.

In this context, some wisdom comes from traditions that have long recognised the importance of relationality — Indigenous practices that honour the interdependence of all life, or social justice movements that emphasise community care over individual achievement. These perspectives remind us that resilience is not just about bouncing back, but about reimagining the way we live together on this planet. Healing, in this sense, isn’t about returning to the way things were, but about creating new ways of being that are more in harmony with each other and with the Earth.

As Therapists

More and more, my clients are bringing in the wider world in which they live. It’s my responsibility as a therapist to be informed and be curious about how the polycrisis shows up in the personal world of my client.

Also, I need to be aware of my own position in the world so that I can understand the impact of meeting the world of another in the room. This involves humility, not expecting my client to educate me, and grace.

Small Shifts with Big Impact

On an individual level, this might look like slowing down, building relationships rooted in trust and care, or participating in mutual aid efforts that help us remember we are not alone. It might mean practicing presence, not just with ourselves, but with the more-than-human world around us… listening to the land, to animals, to the cycles of nature.

It could also mean reevaluating what success and productivity look like in your life. If the polycrisis has taught us anything, it’s that we cannot measure our worth by how much we can accomplish in a broken system. Instead, we might ask ourselves: What does it mean to live well, even in uncertain times? How can we show up for ourselves and each other with compassion, knowing that none of us can do this alone?

You’re not weird for struggling to exist right now. In fact, your struggle is a deeply human response to the unprecedented challenges we’re facing. But by reconnecting with each other and the world around us, we can begin to widen our window of tolerance. Creating a path forward, together, even in the midst of uncertainty.