I feel like you took the words out of my mouth or out of my head. I've been feeling similarly helpless myself. I swear, just reading your post and knowing that someone else feels the same and recognizes that words of support can make a difference, really actually helps. 

Even though it's a bad feeling and makes us feel unproductive, I think the helplessness is a good sign that we care. We care enough to feel like we're not doing enough and we care enough to care that we're not doing enough. That, to me, is better than nothing any day.