Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran, my therapy rooms have been flooded with clients talking about the possibility of a world war and the widespread perception that we stand at a perilous tipping point in history. People are dealing with this differently, with some sanguinely shrugging and accepting they can’t change matters so there’s little point worrying, while others fret and compulsively check the news. Many describe a sense of strong doom.

I too have experienced a similar awareness that the global order has changed irrevocably, with the same uncertainty as my clients are describing.

Plans seem perilous, and decisions which were simple a few months ago (eg when and where to go for holidays; to upgrade my couch or not) are freighted with weight and several impossible questions.

Will borders be open and airspaces safe?

Will tickets be affordable?

Is spending money on a holiday or miscellaneous goods wise in the face of a looming global economic contraction?

For most of us, the kind of angst we have been experiencing over the past few years is far deeper than a simple situational anxiety. Indeed, it cannot even rightfully be described as a clinical anxiety disorder, because it is an accurate and realistic response to a world which has changed........

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