3 Ways to Deal with Feeling Anxious or Angry about Climate Change

[if gte vml 1]><o:wrapblock><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t202" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="202" path="m0,0l0,21600,21600,21600,21600,0xe"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke> <v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"></v:path> </v:shapetype><v:shape id="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t202" style='position:absolute; margin-left:-.5pt;margin-top:20pt;width:418.8pt;height:45.95pt;z-index:251658240; visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square;mso-wrap-distance-left:12pt; mso-wrap-distance-top:12pt;mso-wrap-distance-right:12pt; mso-wrap-distance-bottom:12pt;mso-position-horizontal-relative:margin; mso-position-vertical-relative:line;v-text-anchor:top' filled="f" stroked="f" strokeweight="1pt"> <v:fill o:detectmouseclick="t"></v:fill> <v:stroke miterlimit="4"></v:stroke> <v:path arrowok="t"></v:path> <v:textbox inset="2pt,2pt,2pt,2pt"> <![if !mso]> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"> <tr> <td><![endif]> <div> <p class=Body><span lang=EN-US>"Yellow wild iris" (https://www.flickr.com/photos/163068134@N08/49203144958/in/photostream/) by Bjorn E (https://www.flickr.com/photos/163068134@N08/) is in the public domain (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:windowtext; mso-ansi-language:ES-TRAD'><o:p></o:p></span></p> </div> <![if !mso]></td> </tr> </table> <![endif]></v:textbox> <w:wrap type="topAndBottom" anchorx="margin" anchory="line"></w:wrap> </v:shape><![endif][if !vml][endif][if gte vml 1]></o:wrapblock><![endif]

Take your anxiety or anger and turn it into something

Negative emotions are meant to be good for you. How? They tell you that something is might be going badly. In this case, your anxiety or anger is telling you to do something. Even if a small first step seems like it's nothing, doing so is better than doing nothing.

Think about what you're good at and what you can offer the world to help climate change in some way or form ("How to cope with anxiety about climate change," n.d.).

Maybe you're really good at math, so you could help with accounting at a nonprofit. Or maybe you're really good at editing videos, so you could make a video about climate change. Or maybe you're really good at hands-on projects, so you could help pick up garbage in your local natural area.

Taking a small step can help you to get started and can also help you keep going. Then, you can make your way up from there. Soon those steps will become leaps. The sum of everyone's steps and leaps could make our current state better (Andrews 2017).

Do nothing for a while or do something that you enjoy doing

If you can't do anything and are stuck in a state of torment and inactivity, then do nothing for some time ("How to cope with anxiety about climate change," n.d.). This could be either in the beginning if you haven't started yet or throughout your journey.

It really isn't going to do any good to stay in a bad state. You might as well not feel those emotions. Set a time to come back to these emotions, but for now focus on the good things in life.

Too busy? Set a timer for 15 minutes. Do something that you like to do during that time.

Take a look at two sides of the same coin

You'll have some kind of impact, but you won't know how things will turn out far into the future (Andrews 2017). If you admit this limitation to yourself, you may feel better because you'll let go of what you can't control. Doing so can be freeing.

On this note, you should also admit to yourself what you do know—that things aren't going so well (Andrews 2017). But you could balance that by learning about the progress that some people have made so far ("How to cope with anxiety about climate change," n.d.).

Take the first step today! Take breaks!

Sources:

Andrews, E. (2017, September 5). Climate anxiety doesn’t have to ruin your life. Here’s how to manage it. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://grist.org/article/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-deal-with-climate-change/

How to cope with anxiety about climate change. (n.d.). [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://au.reachout.com/articles/how-to-cope-with-anxiety-about-climate-change