“Eco anxiety” is the neologism coined for extreme anxiety around climate change and the future. If you find yourself obsessively checking climate news pages, feeling guilt over buying plastic, or generally feeling trepidation about the future of our planet, you are not alone. I have cut out meat, avidly recycled and still feel helpless and overwhelmed by the scale of the problem. As the climate crisis becomes more invasive in the West, whilst in response the POTUS pulls out of the Paris Climate Agreement, staying calm is impossible.
However, wallowing in climate anxiety is not only detrimental to yourself but also unhelpful and unproductive. Like other forms of anxiety, regaining a sense of control and confidence is crucial to overcome the inertia that anxiety traps us in. But unlike other forms of anxiety, therapy can’t address the root cause; climate change. So how do we stay positive when it seems like nothing is improving?
First of all, make time for your feelings. Journaling and speaking to your friends, who are likely also worried, will help to soothe anxiety. Making an active choice to acknowledge and process negative feelings around the climate crisis will help you move away from ruminating. Be sure to take regular breaks from the online barrage of terrible news- the future doesn’t rest on your shoulders and skipping a day or two for the sake of your mental health is okay!
Equip yourself with knowledge. Learn about meteorology and food systems, and energy politics and recycling. Learn as much as you can, because once you truly understand what we face, it’s possible to visualise a way out. The field of sustainable development has been providing answers to climate change since the 60s – somewhere in there you will find a solution, whether that is technological or social, it will resonate with you and provide something to look to when things feel hopeless.
Speak to the people around you! Use the influence you have in your community to spread awareness and action. When we take small actions (like recycling) it can feel like a drop in the ocean, and worsen feelings of hopelessness and anxiety, but these small actions add up to a much bigger wave in a slightly less hopeless ocean.
Finally, become active in your community. Join local groups such as Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Network (ECCAN) or Friends of the Earth Scotland. Volunteer with organisations setting up safe hedgehog homes, or spend time in a community garden. And protest. Do these things for the dual benefit of soothing your anxiety; firstly, feeling like you are actively combatting climate change and secondly, for the benefits to your local community and our wider environment. When things become too much and these efforts still feel fruitless, go back to the basics- like a walk in the park. Spend time in nature, and remind yourself what the point of all this is!
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash