ECO-ANXIETY AND ECO-ALIVENESS
We recently participated in Manchester’s first ever Community Assembly on climate change, which saw everyday folks from around the city region come together and participate in a series of discussions focusing on a range of topics such as transport, buildings and energy, food and agriculture, fashion and retail and the emotional impact that climate change is having on people.
You can find out more about the Community Assembly here and we’ll do a proper write-up once our recommendations and mandate has been formally announced at COP26 in Glasgow in less than two weeks, however, we wanted to write a short piece on the psychological impact that climate change is having on many people around the globe.
You may find yourself overwhelmed by the seriousness of the situation and may feel helpless in the challenge that we’re faced with, but you’re not alone. I’ve written up a review of the session and uploaded the slides from the workshop - hope that you find them useful.
- Paulina
HOW TO FACE DIFFICULT TRUTHS
Do you find yourself wondering about the environment, the current situation, the plan for your children and grandchildren…and their future?
We’re so accustomed to the phrase ‘climate change’, but what about ‘climate emergency’ - how does that make us feel?
Will these changes affect me or is it just something that’s happening elsewhere? Should I be doing anything?? Is there hope at the end of the tunnel???
The truth is that the problems we’re now facing such as the greenhouse effect, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are all reversible if we (the human race, including you, me…and our leaders) take appropriate steps. Scientists thought exactly this, but it turns out that “the top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, and to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation”(1).
In this blog, I didn’t want to try and provide solutions on how to achieve a climate transformation, but rather talk about how to mentally deal with the situation.
For a while I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the barrage of information, evidence and forecasts, however, the session delivered by the Climate Psychology Alliance made me feel better, relieved and happier about all this “climate malarkey”.
It’s easy to fall into a whirlpool of worry, anxiety and sadness…and before you know it everything may be on top of you and you might feel depressed. This is a dangerous place because often we don’t even realise we’re in a hole and there’s no easy escape route once we’re there. We then try not to think about it, refuse to hear about it or begin to live in denial just to save our sanity. These are just some of the effects climate crisis has on us and it’s time to start talking about the psychological impact of climate change.
We are living in times of psychological conflicts that take many forms: conspiracy theories, COVID-19, wars and politics, an abundance of information and fake news to name a few. It feels like we constantly need to make choices and decide what to believe or not and how we’re going to live with the choices we make.
“Solastalgia: distress caused by the prospect of environmental change.”
The 2020 Global Action Plan estimated that 1 in 3 teachers recognised high levels of climate anxiety in students and 77% of students say that climate change makes them anxious.
A poll by Friends of the Earth reported that 70% of 18-24 year olds are more worried about climate change in 2020 than they were in 2019.
We cannot avoid the difficulties that we’re faced with. We need to go through them by understanding how they make us feel, by tolerating them and finding a way to reduce the negativity they may cause.
We feel, we think…and then we need to breathe, adapting and finding ways to take action.
The important thing to take away from this is that whilst we may feel surrounded by negativity, worry can and should be identified as concern.
“You are eco-alive and eco-compassionate.”
This means we are already building emotional resilience and by experiencing desperation and fear we are more prepared to take action and help others deal with their climate trauma.
WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?
Face our denial, come to terms with our feelings, confront narcissistic entitlement and apathy and begin to grieve our old ways of living.
It’s time to be optimistic and to repair our relationship with nature. You have to choose how, I will leave it with you. Good luck.
If you or someone you know is struggling with this, here are some places that you might find useful:
Podcasts
Climate cafes
Parent support groups
Art, theater, creativity
Joanna Macy Groups