Wars, terrorism… How to overcome the violence of current events?

“Enough!” Who has not thought or heard around them this little word of suffocation in the face of the avalanche of terrible events fueling the daily chronicle of recent weeks? Massacre of October 7 in Israel, humanitarian drama in Gaza, Islamist attack on a professor in Arras, war in Ukraine, floods of water in Nord-Pas-de-Calais… The tragic pulses of the news are added to the incurable gloom of the French, notably concerned about incivility, purchasing power and climate change, as indicated by the latest Ipsos survey on the morale of our fellow citizens.

On the political level, the picture is hardly more encouraging. While abstention increases election after election, an anti-Western front is strengthening internationally, where countries like Russia and China are leading the assault against our humanist values. Our democracies are fragile and we may be tempted to turn off the information tap to turn away from this oppressive observation. Perhaps this is also the wisest response to adopt in the most acute moments, as explained by Professor Philippe Fossati, member of the Brain Institute.

The incessant flow of distressing information to which news channels and social networks subject us – unprecedented in history – causes a form of cerebral astonishment that is not conducive to serenity. But no one escapes reality. How can we calm down and seek light in this present veiled in shadows? A newspaper like ours thrives on hope. We therefore wanted to offer you this file, following on from last October’s cover story by neuropsychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik. You will find some avenues for resourcing, individual or collective, which we hope will be as inspiring as possible.