How do I come to terms with things that other countries do to people?

For our own well-being, it's important that we discriminate what we can influence from what we can't. You can't directly influence what one country does to another, but you can involve yourself in marches, debates or by voting. Apart from that, it's good to distract yourself by taking part enjoyable activities, like talking with friends, reading a book, going for a jog, painting or whatever works for you.

It can be incredibly upsetting seeing terrible things happening around the world but one thing you can do is raise awareness of causes that you feel passionate about - share articles about whats going on with your friends or via social media or through a blog post, get involved with a local charity which works in the country affected. You may see these things happening on the news and feel powerless but there are little things you can do to raise awareness which although might not help you to accept whats happening it will help you to feel less powerless. If you are struggling to come to terms with something it always helps to talk your thoughts and feelings through with someone - either friends, family or even a listener on 7cups - talking about it can help you to process your thoughts and make sense of them.

We should always approach things that happen in other parts of the world through the lens of cultural understanding. Condemning and demanding they change immediately will not work. If you find that a particular country does something that is deeply disturbing to you, try and find out why they do it and then work to educate people who can impact policy in that country.