There’s no denying or sugar-coating it; climate change is giving people anxiety. Whether we’re feeling like Laura Dern’s daughter in Big Little Lies, hiding in the closet because the world will end, or simply questioning where we’ll all be in five or ten years, the climate crisis begets existential crisis. As Mental Health Week draws to a close, let’s examine the ways in which we can help each other care for the environment without jeopardising our sanity in the process.
Let’s face it. It’s not comforting to know our planet essentially has cancer, and we’re a big chunk of the cancer cells. Or, in a less dreadful way, we’re not doing as much as we can to help our planet heal, even though we have all the solutions. We don’t even need to experience life threatening natural disasters to be faced with climate anxiety. Whether it’s the price increase of natural produce in your local supermarket or simply taxes getting higher (I know, right?), climate change has had a hand in these.
But it’s not exactly something easy to come to terms with. It can even seem a bit shallow to some. “It’s not that serious,” or my personal favourite, “Touch some grass, you’ll feel better”. These are the common responses people usually get when they mention climate anxiety. So you can understand why many don’t feel like they can talk about it.
Phoenix Smith, an ecotherapist, told npr that climate change emotions can feel like grieving. “It can be denial at first, and then you may have some fear and anger and then sadness,” they say. Climate change anxiety isn’t an attention-seeking ploy nor something to belittle. While we try to remedy our anxieties in our own ways, that stability, however, can be lost due to the climate crisis’s unpredictability. We can’t face climate anxiety on our own.
Finding someone to talk to doesn’t make you desparate
It’s true. However, we all come from various cultures and all walks of life, and frankly, some places are more open to conversations surrounding mental health, let alone climate anxiety. In Singapore, according to research done by Ipsos, on average, eight in 10 (79%) Singaporeans say that their mental and physical health are equally important when it comes to their personal health. But only 43% think that the healthcare system in Singapore treats mental and physical health with equal importance.
Even so, the question is, why is climate anxiety relegated to another subsection of importance in conversations regarding mental health? When we talk about mental health in general, climate anxiety is rarely expected or sometimes even taken as a lighthearted concern.
Finding a professional might not be as difficult as it sounds, there are even apps like Betterhelp, which is an online platform that provides online mental health services directly to people. On the other hand, finding experts who are trained to deal with climate change anxiety is more challenging. But the bottom line is that dialogues around climate anxiety must change, and this starts from a community level.
If you’re someone that can find it difficult to open up to your friends and family about climate anxiety, or fear that they might not take you seriously regarding it, online communities are a great way to start. You don’t have to necessarily post on Reddit asking for help, simply following accounts that post content regarding the environment on social media can help you feel less alone. Books like Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy by Chris Johnstone and Joanna Macy can also help validate your very valid feelings about the climate crisis. A core theme of their message is the necessity of placing one’s hopes in the right things rather than those that are doomed to disappointment.
Or if you feel comfortable enough, you can lead the conversation amongst your friends and family, or wherever you feel safe enough to do so. Remember, all it takes is one conversation to change a life.
Putting yourself first doesn’t mean you’re selfish
The truth is, those who care about the environment can’t do much for a world that’s on fire if they’re too exhausted to save it. It’s like what they say, “love yourself before you love others,” and we couldn’t agree more.
Self-care goes beyond just going to the spa or having your nails done. It’s also all about sitting with your feelings and acknowledging that they are real and valid. And word of advice, it doesn’t have to be or feel glamorous when you do so. It can feel however you need it to feel for you to be in touch with your emotions. This goes hand in hand with finding a healthy outlet to shake off the anxiety.
In certain situations, self-care goes along with finding someone to talk to professionally if you find it hard to go through it alone. It’s an alienating feeling and can be beyond overwhelming, and there’s no shame in not wanting to go through it alone.
Grounding practices like yoga, meditation, and breathwork are also activities that have been proven to reduce stress and anxiety. Additionally, instead of letting feelings of despair consume you, use that energy to come up with constructive plans of action. Try to figure out an alternative. Find a way, any way. Look for one, or make your own. By concentrating on making the world a better place, you are looking on the brighter side of things rather than focusing on the hopelessness that climate anxiety can bring.
And no matter how you may feel called by your phone, a huge part of self-care requires you to stop yourself from doomscrolling. This could even mean taking time out from climate or environment related news. Ultimately, seeking out a method that works best for you to reset and relax your thoughts is one of the most effective ways of combatting climate anxiety.
Focusing on what you can control doesn’t make you a control freak
Hey, coming to terms with climate anxiety is not easy. It can make you feel insignificant and discouraged about life in general. It doesn’t have to be like this, and you don’t have to feel or be ashamed of wanting to take action regarding what you can do. In fact, you should be empowered to take back the power that climate anxiety could have taken from you. You’re taking the first few steps by deciding that you’re in control of your actions, even if everything else is beyond your control, and that’s okay.
A huge part that is rarely mentioned when it comes to burning out is guilt. Whether in yourself or others, a chunk of it is guilt that we cannot, or haven’t been doing enough. No, we can’t wash our hands of this responsibility. Instead, we must take accountability for our roles in this. Getting over feelings of shame and guilt is a good first step in overcoming the hopelessness that frequently precedes or coincides with burnout.
Realise that saving the planet is not a solo effort and that you can’t do it all on your own. Each of us can contribute in our own way, which is why communities that are able to offer dialogue and, most importantly, support to those experiencing climate anxiety are needed more than ever.
Nothing’s perfect, and that’s okay
In an episode of HBO’s Big Little Lies, a seven-year old essentially caves in to the existential dread that the world will end because of us after hearing the story of Charlotte’s Web and the connection to global consumption, as told by her teacher. At first glance it was hilarious, as you could find her passed out in her classroom’s closet. It makes you think, “exactly what kind of kid cares?!” until you realise that this type of reaction is precisely how conversations around climate anxiety are thwarted or disregarded.
In some strange comparison, climate anxiety is kind of like how Christians view the eschatological theological position of rapture. To them, it can feel like it’s their responsibility to let everyone accept and take Jesus Christ as their lord and saviour before the Second Coming.
A huge part of climate anxiety is knowing and seeing that we have the solutions to fight the climate crisis, but instead we see those in power taking their time debating whether or not climate change is even real.
Whether you believe in the rapture or experience climate anxiety, for both, it’s the idea that we need to act fast before something catastrophic happens and we won’t have control by then. We don’t want to end up like the final dinner scene in Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up, where we have no choice but to sit and literally watch as our world crumbles when we knew, in this case, the asteroid was coming, and we had all the solutions and resources, but instead we humans were so divided we literally lost sight of the true crisis.
We can’t perfect something that cannot be perfected, and that’s more than fine. And yes, it’s true, the planet cannot save itself, especially from a human-made world. Which is why we cannot be complacent and naively rely on the notion that nature will take care of itself as it always has. Ironically, it’s taking care of itself the way it knows how and intuitively, we’re just not listening. As cheesy as it sounds, for us to properly listen and subsequently help the planet, we need to listen to what our minds need first.
FEATURED IMAGE: via Pexels | IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Man holding a gypsum head very close to his face