COMMON-SENSE NOTES // By Idris B. OdunewuGlobal Anxiety and the Security Dimension: From Personal Despair to Political Violence
Uncertainty and despair—born of economic insecurity, social isolation, and widening inequality—have fueled a striking surge in anxiety across the United States. But this mental-health crisis is not confined by borders.
In my May analysis, The Silent Epidemic: America’s Growing Anxiety Crisis, I explored how uncertainty and despair—born of economic insecurity, social isolation, and widening inequality—have fueled a striking surge in anxiety across the United States. Yet this mental-health crisis is not confined by borders. Across the globe, societies wrestling with depression, poverty, and disillusionment are confronting a rising tide of emotional fragility. Nowhere is this more starkly illustrated than in Colombia: on Saturday, June 7, 2025, 39‑year‑old Senator and leading presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot three times—twice in the head—mere seconds after declaring that the leading crisis facing his country was mental health. That chilling juxtaposition—highlighting emotional frailty at national scale and literal gunshot trauma—is not lost on observers.
Revisiting “America’s Growing Anxiety Crisis”
In May, I documented how the interplay of economic precarity, political polarization, and a pandemic-era erosion of social supports had pushed anxiety levels to unprecedented heights in the United States. Drawing on economic data and mental-health metrics, we argued that emotional despair was undermining social cohesion and trust in democratic institutions.
However, these stressors are global. The financial fallout of COVID‑19, coupled with rising cost-of-living, climate shocks, and geopolitical instability, has precipitated a mental-health spiral in nations across the economic spectrum. Poor and middle-income countries—especially—face compounding challenges: mental-health systems remain under-resourced, and stigma further suppresses acknowledgment of emotional distress.
The Colombian Incident: A Painful Juxtaposition
On June 7, 2025, Miguel Uribe Turbay, a senator with presidential ambitions, was addressing supporters in Bogotá’s Fontibón district when a 15-year-old assailant opened fire. He was shot twice in the head and once in the knee; two others were also injured. Experts labeled it a rare assassination attempt by an underage gunman, raising immediate concern about political violence echoing Colombia’s darker past.
Critics and analysts called it an attack not just on Uribe Turbay, but on democratic discourse itself. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced it as “a direct threat to democracy,” while President Gustavo Petro canceled a planned trip to France and ordered an emergency investigation.
The attack was especially jarring because Uribe Turbay had just spoken of mental health as a critical national crisis. The irony—a mental-health advocate shot moments later—has since sparked intense reflection in Colombia and abroad.
