How can I control my anxiety around the climate crisis?
Controlling your anxiety around the climate crisis
Everyone will suffer anxiety from time to time. In some instances, small amounts of anxiety can be a good thing. Knowing you must meet a deadline or revise for an exam a small amount of anxiety can spur you into action. Too much anxiety however can have a detrimental effect on your mental health. Sometimes anxiety is a general feeling. Other times it can be focussed on just one or two things. Climate crisis anxiety can be on of those things for many people.
Try to take breaks from the news to concentrate on you and those around you
One thing that is a concern to more and more people is the climate crisis the world is currently experiencing. The damage that pollution is causing to the planet features more and more prominently in the news and on social media. All the news seems grim at times. Yet the fact that the climate crisis is making the headlines can be good news as it makes more and more people realise what a big problem it is. This could motivate people to make small or big changes. In thinking about it in this way is a good way to help control your anxiety around the climate crisis. No one person is going to change the climate crisis or global warming but together we can. It could help to think about the small lifestyle changes you can make to help change things and remember it’s not all down to you.
Focus on keeping things in perspective
Global warming is quite a scary term but it’s good to keep it in perspective. Climate change is not just one persons fault and the fact that awareness is being raised is a good thing but there is no benefit in letting it take you over to the detriment of you mental health. The word global can be quite overwhelming due to the sheer scale. Maybe a way to help control any anxiety around the climate crisis is to think of it as a problem that needs to be solved by the whole world and more and more of the world is now aware and the voices for change are getting louder. Trying to break out of a negative thought pattern is a really good way to help control anxiety around climate change. It can be difficult to do but thinking positively is a really great way to reduce anxiety including anxiety around the climate crisis. Sometimes it’s best to just focus on just the things that you can do. Try to surround yourself with like minded people and supportive people. There are lots of resources available to help and sometimes just getting things off your chest can make a huge difference to your anxiety in general and also anxiety around the climate crisis
The climate is changing but we still have time
It is climate change that is causing global warming. The main cause of climate change is CO2 pollution caused by us burning fossil fuels. To focus on the positives the important word to concentrate on here is change. It’s not too late to stop climate change if we all start making small changes. There are many small changes you can make to help stop climate change. Buy a stainless-steel water bottle to stop using plastic ones. Think positively about this small change and think of the positive impact this will have and that you are having on other people. This positive thinking and making a change to reinforce it is a great way to help feel less stressed and control anxiety around climate crisis. There are loads of small changes you can make. It can be really helpful to control anxiety in general and anxiety around the climate crisis but try to think of what we can do for positive change rather than dwelling on how we got here.
Changing climate change
Stopping climate change is key to reducing global warming. Reducing your carbon footprint is an essential element to making a positive contribution towards helping mend the climate crisis and you can also do it in way that may reduce your anxiety. If you are lucky enough to be able to walk or cycle to work then this is a great place to start. You don’t need to be Laura Trott or Mo Farah but by cycling or walking not only are you reducing you carbon footprint, but you are also helping your mental health and controlling your anxiety around the climate crisis. Exercise is proven to have a significant positive effect on mental health and will surely help to control your anxiety around the climate crisis. Getting exercise makes the body produce endorphins which is the bodies feel good chemical! Exercise gives you a chance to clear your head and think good things that matter to you.
Being social and talking things through with other people is another great way to control anxiety around climate change and improve all round mental health. Ditch the social media for a few days and try to get out with some real people. There are loads of opportunities to do this whilst having a good time and making a difference to climate change and global warming. If you live near the coast search for a local beach clean. Beach cleans are a great way to socialise with like minded people some of whom may like you want to know how to control anxiety around climate change. The additional buzz of knowing you are helping keep the oceans clean will be great for your mental health.
Or you could try plogging if you don’t live near the coast. Plogging comes from a Swedish term and is the idea of picking up litter while you are out walking, jogging or running. Most areas have groups that take part in this activity and they can be a fun friendly way to get out and meet new people whilst gaining all the benefits of exercise to help reduce your stress around the climate crisis.
Making a start can be hard but you will be glad you did
As with a lot of things getting started is often the most difficult part. It is easy to fall into the routine of feeling anxious and these feeling can be self-fulfilling. The more you think about what you can do in the face of global warming the more difficult it is to control your anxiety around climate change. The best way to get out of this cycle is to change your routine and try to focus on you and what you can do. Hopefully we have given you a few useful pointers, showing that we all share the same problem and we can all make small changes that can help reduce global warming and at the same time help control anxiety around climate change.
