Health and Well-being
The Frog will explore The Climate Action Handbook: A Visual Guide to 100 Climate Solutions by Heidi Roop in the first 100 days of 2024
In the first `100 days of 2024 we will explore 100 climate solutions that may “empower you to evaluate, engage, and act” to address on-going climate change as an individual on your terms.
If you are reading any of these posts you may have experienced climate grief. You may not have known what it was – a psychological response to ecological loss related to climate change. Manifested as profound sadness, helplessness, guilt, anxiety, or numbness as you contemplate the climate crisis. Climate grief feeds climate anxiety. And given our overall state of anxiety today, it may add to the burdens on our mental health.
Climate anxiety from climate grief as we contemplate past or anticipate looming loss. And what are the stages of grief? How does climate grief manifest?
Denial when you don’t believe that climate change is a global emergency. Anger when you find that people don’t want to change their lifestyle in response to global warming. Bargaining when people convince themselves that climate change isn’t so bad to avoid facing the realities of the climate crisis. Depression when people get stuck in feelings of hopelessness or numbness in response to climate change. Acceptance is when people calmly accept the science of climate change and are ready to work towards solutions to preserve the planet.
We have language to describe these complex feelings – solastalgia is a neologism, formed by the combination of the Latin words sōlācium (comfort) and the Greek root -algia (pain, suffering, grief), that describes a form of emotional or existential distress caused by environmental change. It is best described as the lived experience of negatively perceived environmental change.
If you are discovering or connecting with your solastalgia, please watch this Ted Talk. In an affirming talk, Lertzman discusses the emotional effects of climate change and offers insights on how psychology can help us discover both the creativity and resilience needed to act on environmental issues.
Her message is that “psychology is the X factor for unlocking action on climate and ecological crises”. What action is she taking? Project InsideOut proposes “a way of leading while the world wakes up”. You are challenged to be a guide with five main skills to master: Attune – understand your people. Reveal – compassionate truth-telling. Convene – less talking at. More talking with. Equip – be a gardener. Grow your people. Offer tools and guidance. Sustain – go beyond the pledge.
Take the quiz to answer the question what kind of changemaker are you?
Heidi Roop suggests taking other, simple actions in response to your solastalgia. It starts with self-care – tending to our mental health as “we live through and observe the very real toll of climate change”. Engaging with your community, even helping your local officials to understand and preparing for potential climate change fueled disasters for your area can help provide a calming sense of security. Helping children understand the negative emotions they feel when exposed to something they may not fully understand.
And find your way to natural settings. Studies have shown that “our relationship with nature – how much we notice, think about and appreciate our natural surroundings – is a critical factor in supporting good mental health and preventing distress”.
I leave you with a sense of Active Hope. A favorite book of mine, which I urge you to read and absorb. I have had the pleasure and privilege of interacting with Chris Johnstone and his message is both comforting and empowering. And please consider taking the Active Hope Training course and donating to their foundation. You will find it fulfilling, it may reduce your anxiety and increase your resolve to take positive action in response to our climate change emergency.
“Active Hope is not wishful thinking. Active Hope is not waiting to be rescued… Active Hope is waking up to the beauty of life on whose behalf we can act”
Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re In Without Going Crazy
Next Up: Climate Action in 2024 – Day 77: Express Yourself Creatively
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