Why Is Everyone So Angry? And What Fiction Can Teach Us About Surviving It
Feeling overwhelmed by anger and fear in today’s chaotic world? Discover how fiction can help you process emotions, find hope, and build your own emotional sanctuary, from Tolkien to Studio Ghibli and beyond.
I am pissed off. Emotional, irritable, scared, anxious, sensitive, on edge, angry, and unfortunately, I think many of you can relate.
If you’ve asked yourself why everyone is so angry right now, just like Dayna asks herself in the video below, you’re not alone. Millions are asking the same question. That tells us something: the collective mood isn’t just shifting, it’s cracking.
The world feels messy, chaotic, disappointing, hurtful, violent, lonely and conflicting, but deep down, I know better than that. I was raised, in part, by my favorite stories. Stories that taught me that even when the world feels unbearable, there is meaning to be found and hope worth holding on to.
Like Samwise Gamgee famously says:
“…there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.”
Lately, I’ve had to remind myself of that quote every single day. And honestly? It’s kept me sane.
Why Everyone Feels So Angry Right Now
The anger we’re seeing everywhere –on social feeds, in traffic, at the supermarket, even in quiet moments at home– is not random. It’s the product of fear, overstimulation, and emotional burnout.
We are living inside a pressure cooker: global conflict, economic instability, loneliness disguised as connection, and a constant demand to stay informed, productive, and composed.
So yes, we’re angry.
But beneath that anger are softer truths: fear, grief, exhaustion, confusion.
And this is where fiction acts as a lifeline.
Why Fiction Matters More Than Ever
That’s why fiction is so important in an unpredictable, flawed, very much human world like ours. Fiction has an immense power to connect, to inspire, to relate, to keep company. Historically, literary fiction has been proven to be essential for survival in a world like ours, because of the way it demands reflection and perspective-taking; it is a fundamental tool by which we learn, empathize and understand the world around us.
When we engage with fictional narratives, our brains go through a process remarkably similar to experiencing something in real life. Science has revealed through many studies that the neurological processes activated by real-life social interactions, problem-solving, and emotional regulation are also deeply connected to reading fiction. This is no news whatsoever, the innate human necessity for narrative is not a modern development, it is an evolutionary imperative. Long before written language was invented, communities were already telling stories that served as lessons, moral values, and cautionary tales; fiction has always been essential for our survival.
For example, as I mentioned in a previous article about my struggle with depression, BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) and other mental health issues, I found that my single most important sanctuary was indeed fiction. If it hadn’t been for stories like Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter, the Studio Ghibli movies, Charmed, One Piece, books like A Little Life or even video games like Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, I probably wouldn’t have made it out alive.
Today, I find myself in a similar situation. The world that surrounds me feels terribly unsafe, terrifying, isolating and uncertain; I have the need to refuge myself in those stories I love most, those that give me hope again, those that motivate me to keep going, to fight for what I believe in. And this is an invitation to find your own sanctuaries as well.
Uncommon Ways to Use Fiction as Emotional Regulation
Here are practical, surprising ways fiction can help when the world feels too sharp:
1. Re-read / re-watch stories you loved when you were young
Your nervous system remembers safety. Let it.
2. Consume “slow fiction”
Choose stories that breathe. They anchor you when reality feels frantic.
3. Borrow a character’s courage
Ask yourself: What would they do with my fear?
4. Seek fiction with no stakes
Cozy worlds are medicine when everything else is too loud.
5. Build a “sanctuary library”
Five titles, shows or movies that unfailingly soothe you: your emotional first-aid kit.
Subscribe to our blog and find some of my personal favorite recommendations and a list of inspiring quotes from these!
Some Of My Personal Favorites
- Harry Potter (movies and/or books): A story about growing up in the dark and discovering your own light, where friendship becomes armor and love is the oldest, most powerful magic of all.
- Lord of The Rings (movies and/or books): An epic reminder that even the smallest heart can shift the fate of the world, and that hope lives in every step taken toward the dawn.
- Attack On Titan: A brutal, breathtaking meditation on freedom, fear, and the cost of choosing humanity in a world built on walls and secrets.
- Studio Ghibli movies (any one of them is absolutely perfect in its own way): Whispers of wonder wrapped in hand-painted skies, where ordinary lives become sacred, and kindness is the quiet force that saves us.
- One Piece: A wild, sun-soaked odyssey of loyalty and impossibility, where found family becomes a compass and dreams are worth crossing oceans for.
- Frieren: A soft, aching journey through time, grief, and what it means to truly know someone, long after they’re gone.
- Interstellar: A cosmic hymn to love, time, and survival, proving that human connection can bridge galaxies as easily as it bridges hearts.
- Captain Fantastic: A fierce, tender exploration of family, truth, and the courage to raise children in a world that has forgotten how to be whole.
- A Silent Voice: A delicate, devastating story about regret, forgiveness, and the bravery it takes to reach for redemption when you feel unworthy of it.
- Coraline: A dark, glittering fairy tale reminding us that bravery is choosing reality, even when the fantasy looks perfect.
- A Series Of Unfortunate Events (book series or 2004 film): A sharp, gothic wink at the absurdity of tragedy, where wit and resilience become the Baudelaire orphans’ only real superpowers.
- Charmed: A warm, witchy testament to sisterhood, self-discovery, and the magic that happens when women choose courage over fear.
- Downton Abbey: A graceful dance between duty and desire, where whispered secrets, shifting eras, and quiet rebellions shape every elegant hallway.
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (videogame): A sweeping, silent pilgrimage through ruin and renewal, teaching you that courage isn’t loud, it’s the steady choice to rise, again and again.
- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara: A devastating, intimate exploration of friendship, trauma, and survival, showing how love can both break and rebuild us in the most unexpected ways.
All of these have very different natures, but all of them gave me a sense of safety, comfort, warmth and hope in their own unique way.
A Return to Hope
If you’re angry, exhausted, terrified, overwhelmed, you’re not failing. You’re responding to a world that has given you too much to hold.
And in moments like these, stories become survival. They remind us we’re not alone. They remind us that darkness passes. They remind us that humans have always lived through the unlivable by imagining something better.
These words have carried me through very difficult times:
“It's like the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad has happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. I know now folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.” - J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of The Rings.
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." - Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter.
“...things get broken, and sometimes they get repaired, and in most cases, you realize that no matter what gets damaged, life rearranges itself to compensate for your loss, sometimes wonderfully.”- Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life.
“As long as I’m still alive, I have infinite chances.”- Monkey D. Luffy, One Piece.
“Life is suffering. It is hard. The world is cursed. But still, you find reasons to keep living.”- Princess Mononoke, Studio Ghibli.
“One must never prioritize their own gain over humanity's survival.”- Erwin Smith, Attack On Titan.
We are living through a loud, aching, complicated chapter, but a chapter is not the whole story. And the beauty of being human is that we can rewrite ourselves every single day.
We can return to the tales that built us.
We can choose gentleness in a world that has forgotten it.
We can choose meaning in a world that feels meaningless.
We can choose to keep going.
Because stories don’t save us from the world, they remind us why the world is still worth saving.
Regina Zuniga,
The Skin Deep Content Writer
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