It turns out, too much news.
Whether you are stressed about the coronavirus or bereaving Brexit, being abroad can have a magnifying effect on the news we receive, and our 24/7 connectivity doesn’t help. We hear the same story a hundred times and it amplifies our fears and concerns.
From an evolutionary biological perspective, it is no wonder this has a negative and stressful effect on us. In the blink of an eye (in evolutionary terms) we have gone from living in societies of about 100 people, with our news being word-of-mouth and almost always of personal concern, to existing in a globally connected society approaching 8 billion, with news coming at us from every direction, mostly about things thousands of kilometres from us and which we can have no influence over. Our brains simply did not evolve to comprehend this constant barrage and enormity of information.
So practice a little self-care. Turn off the news for a while. Prune out the negativity from your social media feeds. Take time to breath and to take stock of what really affects you and the things you do have some control over.
And let go of the things you can do nothing about.