When Distant Disasters Affect You: Global Trauma and Meaningful Action

Hello Friend,

In Part 1, we explored how natural disasters create unique trauma responses and what survivors need for healing. Today, I want to discuss something equally important: how global events affect us all, and how we can transform overwhelming empathy into meaningful action.

The Ripple Effect of Global Events

Here's what I've learned: disasters don't just affect the people who experience them directly. As a mental health professional, I increasingly recognize how global events create ripple effects in our clients' emotional well-being, even when those events don't directly impact their daily lives.

Research from the World Mental Health Survey Initiative shows that continuous exposure to global crises through media can create what researchers call "ambient anxiety"—a persistent sense of threat that operates below conscious awareness yet significantly impacts nervous system regulation. Your empathy isn't a weakness—it's your human capacity for connection extending beyond your immediate circle.

Studies from Japan's disaster mental health teams have pioneered approaches to understanding how collective trauma shapes individual experience, even from a distance. Their work suggests that acknowledging the reality of global impacts—rather than dismissing them as "not your problem"—helps create psychological containment.

The Global Picture: Myanmar and Thailand's Earthquake

The powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar and Thailand on March 28, 2025 has resulted in mounting casualties, with at least 3,600  people confirmed dead and over 5,000 injured. The scale of this disaster is overwhelming, and the trauma ripples continue. Rescue and relief efforts have been thwarted due to damaged infrastructure and continued rains.

What makes this earthquake particularly devastating is that it struck during Friday prayer hours, collapsing mosques and destroying over 8,300 religious sites. This isn't just physical destruction—it's the loss of sacred spaces where communities find meaning. The ongoing civil war in Myanmar has made disaster relief even more challenging, similar to what I witnessed as a first responder during the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka.

The nervous system impact of earthquakes is unique because they violate our trust in the most fundamental thing we depend on—solid ground. Survivors often report feeling like the earth is still moving weeks or months after the shaking stops. Their nervous systems remain hypervigilant, constantly scanning for the next tremor.

How to Support Texas Flooding, Myanmar, and Thailand Victims

Here are 3 concrete ways you can help:

1. Donate to local or global organizations 
1. Houston Food Bank 
2. United Way of Greater Houston
3. The Red Cross 
4. UN Refugee Agency for Myanmar Emergency
5. All Hands And Hearts For Texas, Myanmar, California, and Mexico

*Tips for Choosing Where to Donate

• Prioritize reputable, experienced organizations with local access.

• Opt for unrestricted monetary donations, which allow flexibility and quicker impact. 

• Verify charity ratings (BBB Wise Giving, Charity Navigator) and ensure your funds aren't diluted by administrative overhead. How to donate smart
  
  

1. Volunteer with cleanup efforts through organizations like All Hands and Hearts - physical presence and helping hands are desperately needed. Volunteer Click here
   
   
2. Support small businesses in affected areas by ordering online or purchasing gift cards - economic recovery is crucial for long-term community healing.

Protecting Your Nervous System

Whether you're directly affected by disaster or feeling overwhelmed by global events, here are three practices that help:

Bounded media engagement: Set specific times for news consumption rather than constant checking, allowing your nervous system recovery periods. Your brain needs breaks from threat information to regulate properly.

Proximate action: Finding one small, concrete way to contribute to a solution can transform helplessness into agency. This is your chance to turn empathy into meaningful action.

Communal processing: Creating intentional spaces to share concerns about global events prevents isolation and normalizes emotional responses. We need moments to connect and regroup together.

Forward This to Anyone Who Needs It

I'm asking you to share this newsletter with anyone you know who might be dealing with natural disaster trauma—whether it's recent or from years ago. Sometimes we need permission to feel what we're feeling and know that our responses are normal.

Remember: Your response to world events isn't "overreacting"—your human capacity for connection and care extends beyond your immediate circle. Trauma doesn't follow timelines. Anniversaries can be hard. Watching other disasters on the news can bring back your own memories. All of this is part of the human experience of surviving something that shouldn't have happened.

You are not broken. You are not weak. You are a human being whose nervous system is doing exactly what it was designed to do in the face of the unthinkable.

We're all connected in this human experience. Let's hold each other gently.

With love and solidarity,
Sharon