Eco-anxiety

Eco-anxiety is a fairly new term which describes someone’s anxious response to the prospect of environmental damage and collapse. This may be something you have experienced, or maybe just something you relate to after reading this post, but hopefully today we can take some positive steps to turn anxiety into action.

I can vividly remember experiencing eco-anxiety when I watched David Attenborough’s A Life On Our Planet on Netflix. During the show, he described what would happen to the world in the decades that followed if we carried on as we are e.g. 2030s, 2040s, 2050s and beyond. The impacts ranged from biodiversity loss, to reduced crop yields, to regular extreme weather events, to severe food shortages, to changes in air quantities. As a young person, this breakdown literally showed me all the catastrophic disasters I would have to face through my life, which I could literally compare with my age. People celebrating their 50th birthday now probably spend their time thinking about parties, cakes and friends, but for my generation these milestones may be focussed more on survival. While watching, I felt physically sick, heart racing, each future prediction like being repeatedly stabbed as my ‘bright future’ I’d always been told about came crashing down. And when the show finished I cried. It had such a huge emotional impact on me, above any sympathetic or sad emotions in the past. Because it felt like it was my problem alone…. Why did no one else do something? Why did no one else care? If we know all the facts, why has nothing changed?

If this is something you can relate to, the headline is, you are not alone in your feelings. Increasing numbers of people, especially the young, feel a sense of panic when they think about the future of our planet (if you want more info, see here: Eco-anxiety: What it is and how to manage it (medicalnewstoday.com)). So here are some of my tips for dealing with eco-anxiety and turning it into positive steps….

• Change the way you think – I believe the biggest cause of eco-anxiety is feeling helpless and like the entire weight of the problem is on your shoulders. Remember – you alone did not cause the problem and you alone are not the solution. You were not around all those years ago to tell the first industrialised places to keep the fossil fuels in the ground, nor are you responsible for the decisions of nations, large companies and international organisations. You can take responsibility for the changes within your control and sphere of influence, but it is not all on you to find a perfect solution.
• Be present – they say that if you think too much the past, you get depressed, and if you think too much in the future, you get anxious. So while both are useful, spend more of your energy in the present, improving your life right now, and ease your mind from worrying about situations outside your control.

• Take action – the best antidote to feeling hopeless is to do something! Leave the politicians to keep mumbling about empty promises, and take your own action, either as an individual or through local grassroots initiatives. Stop all air flights, ditch the plastic, go vegetarian, write to your MP, recycle….. it’s all waiting for you.
• Journal – sometimes, no matter how much we do to help, we can still feel very small and lost. Practising journaling when these thoughts arise can help you to understand what triggers them and also allow them the opportunity to be heard, accepted, and then used as positive fuel to continue improving your sustainable journey.
• Selective news – continue to educate yourself on relevant environmental news and climate change facts, but know when you reach saturation point. If you find yourself being constantly stimulated by the media spreading negative environmental stories, remove yourself for a little while, or read positive stories of change and practical action which you might find more useful.
• Seek help – if eco-anxiety is something you frequently experience, possibly severely or alongside other mental health issues, speak to someone about it, such as a friend/family member or a health care professional, to help you find the best way of dealing with it for you.

This is your reminder that saving the planet is everybody’s responsibility, not just yours alone, and that it is natural and Ok to grieve for what has already happened. In face of the facts, feeling anxious is a normal response. But know that it is not yet too late, so try not to let the eco-anxiety overwhelm you, and instead channel that energy into ensuring positive change. You are not alone 🥰