Sometimes it feels like a mental flu pulling me toward this headspace that’s just an unending cycle of devastation, guilt, and rage. Usually, I feel the rage most profoundly, but then it subsides into something like heartbreak — like solastalgia — even though I only started appreciating and caring about nature a few years ago. When I admit that, I feel guilty.
Everyone who feels eco-anxiety experiences it differently. Still, the throughline is that climate change can feel so insurmountable, so ridiculously scary, and so intertwined with almost every other problem that it seems impossible to fight. And then it’s paralyzing.
As an environmental journalist, I engage daily with the climate and biodiversity crises. The off-switch doesn’t exist, and it can be really exhausting. Luckily, I’ve figured out a few ways to cope with my eco-anxiety, and I’ll share those with you. These are in no particular order.
Stop scrolling. I mean it! It’s literally my job to be informed on this subject, but I can’t look at depressing social media feeds all day. Fill the scrolling time with stuff that brings you joy — a film or show, a book (preferably fiction), a trip to the dog park, crafts, cooking, yoga, watering your plants, cleaning your apartment, or ANYTHING that is not scrolling.
Sit with it. You have to feel your feelings. Sometimes it takes me a few days to fully process how climate change makes me feel, especially when a new IPCC report comes out. Ignoring the problem or whatever emotions it brings up probably doesn’t help reduce the eco-anxiety. But I’m not a therapist.
Therapy.
Find your fight. I’m a big fan of Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s [Climate Action Venn Diagram]. Understanding how you can best fight against climate change is empowering and motivating. And once you have some ideas, start doing them! If you end up hating one, try something else. Even though individual action has its limitations, what you do matters. A lot.
Sit under a tree. Go outside, and find a tree. The older the tree, the better, but any sturdy tree will do. This might sound ridiculous or dumb or whatever, but trust me. Close your eyes, and try to feel connected with the tree. Feel it support you; feel how it’s alive. Think about all the little critters that depend on that tree to survive. Think about how cool it is to exist among other species. How unbelievable it is to exist at all. If ecological destruction makes you feel scared, hopeless, or angry, remember you’re not fighting it alone. And if you feel guilty for not “doing enough,” know that even just taking the time to connect with a tree is doing much more than most.
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