(OPINION) “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are THE BEGINNING of sorrows. – Matthew 24:6-8
Like many Americans, Marsha Delgado has endured two difficult years. The 50-year-old watched vulnerable patients at her Santa Ana radiology clinic struggle to recover from lung damage caused by COVID-19. She has clashed with patients who would not wear face masks.
And she has not attended a family gathering for months because some relatives refused to get tested for the virus while she was being treated for metastatic breast cancer. As case rates began to fall, her stress finally started to ebb. Then Russia invaded Ukraine.
“I saw the ugly side of humanity in the last few years,” Delgado said. “It’s extremely frustrating. We’re tired. The world is tired. We’re tired of fighting each other.” With COVID-19 cases falling and mask rules easing, life seemed like it might soon return to normal. That thread of hope was snapped late Wednesday, when Russian troops attacked Ukraine, sparking fears of a global conflict.
A war in Eastern Europe and a looming humanitarian crisis have triggered fresh waves of anxiety and depression for Americans who have spent two years trying to survive an unprecedented period of instability, including a public health crisis, a recession, political upheaval, supply chain problems, and inflation.
Pain, sadness, and confusion swept across social media Wednesday and Thursday, with people expressing shock and frustration at the unfolding crisis and mounting casualty count. Many said they felt powerless to help. Some said they feared for the safety of loved ones stuck in Ukraine.
Others wondered whether the conflict, 6,000 miles away from California, could reach the U.S. — then expressed guilt about those worries, as Ukrainians fled the country and took shelter in subway stations to avoid Russian airstrikes. Others turned to dark humor as a coping mechanism. “Just making potatoes while dread presses in from every direction,” wrote John Green, the bestselling author of “The Fault in Our Stars,” in the caption of a cooking video he posted to TikTok at lunchtime Thursday. READ MORE
