Exposed Wire: Why Everyone Around Is So Angry

Have you noticed that now it takes just one small thing—and the person next to you explodes, as if you’re personally responsible for all their problems?

It’s not just your imagination. Psychologists are already calling what’s happening to society the “exposed wire” syndrome: a light touch is enough—and sparks fly. 77% of Ukrainians say they live in constant stress, more than half—in anxiety. Hate has stopped being something exceptional. It’s become background: in comments, in chats, in lines, in your own head.

Where Does All This Anger Come From

Aggression is rarely about the person it’s directed at. Most often, it’s accumulated tension looking for a way out. When a person lives in “must hold it together” mode for years, the nervous system wears down. And at some point, a cashier, a bus driver, or a random commenter gets a dose meant for someone else entirely.

Social media adds fuel to the fire. The algorithm loves emotion, and the strongest emotion that’s easy to trigger is anger. You’re fed what makes you mad, because mad = you stay in the feed longer. You think you’re reading news. In reality, you’re being systematically irritated, because someone’s making money off your irritation.

Someone Else’s Hate Is Someone Else’s Problem Being Handed to You

The most insidious thing about hate is that it’s contagious. Someone snaps at you—and you automatically want to snap at someone else. The offense gets passed along the chain, like a hot stone that everyone rushes to throw to the next person. This way, one person’s aggression manages to affect dozens in a day.

But there’s a moment everyone misses: between “something hit you” and “you reacted” there’s always a pause. A small one, half a second. And it’s in this pause that all freedom hides. You’re not obligated to catch the thrown stone. You can simply let it fly past.

How Not to Become Another Exposed Wire

• Don’t mirror. When someone raises their voice at you, your body wants to respond in kind. Don’t respond in the same tone—and the conflict loses fuel.
• Ask yourself: is this really about me? In 9 out of 10 cases, someone else’s outburst is their exhaustion, not your fault.
• Clean your feed without regret. What systematically makes you angry doesn’t have to live in your phone. Unfollowing isn’t weakness, it’s hygiene.
• Don’t finish reading comments where you’re being provoked. You don’t owe anyone proof in a war you didn’t start.
• Protect the pause. A breath before responding costs zero hryvnias and saves you from half the arguments.

POHUY as an answer

POHUY isn’t about not caring about people. It’s about who you allow to control your mood. Every time you don’t catch someone else’s stone, you don’t pass it on—and the chain breaks with you. This isn’t weakness. This is strength: staying calm where everyone around is losing themselves. When you don’t drain energy on someone else’s anger, you finally have resources left for what’s truly yours.

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POHUY—everything except what truly matters to you.