Does every news report about a new conflict somewhere in the world almost pull the ground from under your feet? Do you lie awake at night playing through scenarios that may never happen? Is reaching for your phone the first thing you do in the morning, to check whether the world is still standing? With over 25 years of experience, I help people in my practice in Duesseldorf or online to resolve their fears. Recently, fear of war has increasingly been the topic.
What is Fear of War?
Fear of war is the feeling that the world around you has become unsafe and there is nothing you can do about it. Since the crises of recent years, many people feel this fear more acutely, and for some it goes far beyond normal concern.
It is not about completely eliminating this fear – because it responds to real threats. It becomes problematic when the fear takes over, influences your life far too strongly, hinders clear decision-making, and destroys trust in the future. Some people then avoid making travel plans or future plans and withdraw more and more.
How does fear of war show itself?
- Constant following of news and inability to stop (doomscrolling)
- Inner tension and restlessness when reading or hearing conflict news
- Sleep disturbances caused by worries about the state of the world
- Avoidance of future plans, travel, or major decisions
- Feeling of powerlessness and helplessness
- Physical symptoms such as racing heart, stomach problems, or muscle tension
- Excessive stockpiling or thoughts of fleeing
- Withdrawal from social life
- Fear for your own family and their safety
What are the causes of fear of war?
Fear of war has various causes that often interact with each other:
- Media consumption: The constant flood of news and graphic images create a distorted sense of threat and keep the fear alive
- Family background: War experiences in the family – even across generations – can create a particular sensitivity to this topic
- Loss of control: The feeling of being at the mercy of geopolitical developments with nothing you can do about it
- Deeper beliefs: Convictions such as "The world is becoming increasingly unsafe" or "I cannot protect my family" intensify the fear
- Previous trauma: Your own experiences with violence, displacement, or threat can be reactivated by current news
- General anxiety: People with a baseline anxiety or other fear-related issues are more susceptible to fear of war
How do we work on fear of war in coaching?
Fear of war is particular because the threat is real. It is not about talking you out of the fear. It is about you coming back to the present and staying there, capable of acting, and grounded in yourself, no matter what happens in the world. For some people, a specific experience triggered the fear: a war in their country of origin, a displacement story, a piece of news that set something in motion. For others, the fear has built up gradually, through years of news, images, and the feeling of being at the mercy of a world they seemingly cannot influence.
My approach: The SAF Method™
The SAF Method™ stands for the three steps we work through in coaching:
- S – Soothe the Symptoms: Doomscrolling, insomnia, chronic physical tension, the feeling of constantly having to be on guard. In the first step, you learn to bring these reactions down.
- A – Address the Activators: The news images that have lodged themselves in you. The moment the fear first really hit. Or the war experiences from the family history that still echo today. We defuse what put parts of you and your nervous system into this alarm mode.
- F – Free the Fueling Thoughts: "The world is becoming more and more unsafe", "I cannot protect my family", "You can no longer rely on anything". These deep beliefs keep the fear alive. In the third step, we release the fueling thoughts so that you can act again.
Which method addresses what?
First we look at which images and thoughts will not let go of you: Is it specific news footage? Concern for your family? A displacement story in the family history? From there, we determine which method works best for you:
| Method | What it does for fear of war |
|---|---|
| WingWave | Releases the emotional charge of the images and experiences that have lodged themselves in your body: the news footage that will not let go, the moment the fear first hit, the sense of helplessness |
| Hypnosis | Brings your nervous system out of permanent alert and builds an inner sense of safety, so that your body no longer goes into alarm mode the moment you hear news or think about the state of the world |
| NLP | Interrupts the catastrophic thoughts that drive the rumination: "There will be war", "We are not safe", "I cannot protect my family" |
| The Work | Examines the beliefs behind the fear: "The world is becoming more and more unsafe", "I am at its mercy", "You can no longer rely on anything", and tests whether they are actually true |
| IFS | Gets to know the inner parts that try to protect you through constant news-watching, often a part that believes vigilance prevents the worst |
| TRT | Reaches war experiences in the family history: displacement, stories from grandparents that have burned themselves into your own experience |
What can you achieve in coaching?
- Follow the news without falling into panic or doomscrolling
- Fall asleep again without the state of the world keeping you awake
- Make plans for the future without fear blocking them
- Keep a clear head even when the news is threatening
- Process family war experiences that still echo today
- Be able to act again instead of freezing in helplessness
Which topics are connected to fear of war?
- Existential Anxiety – Deep uncertainty about your own future and existence
- Fear of Death – When the fear of dying dominates your life
- Panic & Panic Attacks – When fear turns into panic
- Fear of Loss – The fear of losing a loved one
Frequently Asked Questions about Fear of War
What is fear of war?
Fear of war describes an intense and recurring preoccupation with armed conflicts and their possible impact on your own life and the lives of your loved ones. It goes far beyond normal concern about world affairs and can manifest as doomscrolling, chronic physical tension, or a creeping avoidance behaviour that increasingly restricts everyday life.
What symptoms occur?
Typical signs are constant news-watching and the inability to stop, sleep disturbances from ruminating about the state of the world, inner tension and restlessness, avoidance of future plans and travel, physical symptoms such as a racing heart, stomach problems, or muscle tension, and a growing sense of powerlessness and withdrawal from social life.
How does fear of war develop?
It often develops through permanent exposure to news footage and reports about conflicts, through war experiences in your own family – even across generations –, through your own earlier experiences of threat or displacement, or through the interplay of a general tendency towards anxiety and a world situation that offers little sense of safety.
What helps in the acute moment?
Consciously switching off the news, slow exhalation, grounding through your senses, and returning to the here and now can help in an acute situation. Fear of war often feeds from several sources at once. From what you see in the news, from older fears that are reactivated by it, and from family imprints you may not even be aware of. In coaching we trace each of these sources.
Can you overcome fear of war?
Yes. When the fear is linked to specific images or experiences – a news report that triggered something, stories from the family history – the emotional charge can be targeted directly. When deeper beliefs are behind it, such as "The world is becoming more and more unsafe" or "I am helplessly at its mercy", we can examine and change them. The goal is not naive avoidance but a way of engaging with the state of the world that keeps you capable of acting and fully alive, instead of driving you into doomscrolling and withdrawal.
My concern may not be serious enough.
Perhaps you live in safety and wonder why news about wars still affects you so deeply. Perhaps you avoid talking about world affairs because you are afraid your worries might seem exaggerated. Perhaps you cannot fall asleep at night because you think about scenarios that may never happen. Perhaps you no longer dare to make plans for the future because everything feels uncertain. All of this is reason enough to take a closer look – because these restrictions tend to grow over time rather than shrink.
I have already tried many things.
Many people with fear of war have already tried reducing their news intake, distracting themselves with positive information, arguing rationally against it, or simply pulling themselves together – and still the images and the tension keep coming back. This is rarely about a lack of willpower. It is because previous attempts did not reach the place where the fear actually sits: the images that have lodged themselves in the body, the family imprints that give the current fear its force, or the beliefs in the background that give the threat its overpowering significance. In coaching, we work precisely there.
Ready for the next step?
Get in touch if you would like initial guidance and a clear way forward.