Therapy for eco-anxiety (aka climate distress) & political stress
Headlines have ranged from unsettling to disheartening to downright terrifying for too many years now. So many specific dates stand out for so many reasons. Some of these may depend on your identity or the identities of those you love. But, regardless of those identities, it generally hasn’t been good, and whatever feelings you’re having are very likely rational responses to all that’s happening. Therapy can help with this; it’s important to process all you’re feeling with a safe and reliable person who can listen and help you feel, learn from, and move through discomfort and other less pleasant emotions.
How might climate change (aka eco-anxiety) & political distress be impacting me?
To determine whether therapy might help, reflect on how you respond to the news and headlines. You might want to think they don’t impact you because you’re ignoring them and have turned off all sources of news and effectively stuck your head in the sand. This may not be a sign you’re not impacted but rather a sign you are so impacted and sensitive to what you’re learning that you want to avoid the accompanying feelings, like rage or despair or grief.
Ask yourself if you’ve changed your behaviors in a way you didn’t want because of the climate crisis or politicians’ inability to regulate guns? Are you raising your kids differently because of either? Are you finding yourself unsure how to talk to your kids about what’s happening in the world?
Have you found yourself annoyed or upset or angry that you don’t get to enjoy weather-specific hobbies like you have in the past? Would you consider the political landscape of a state (and what rights it affords its citizens) if you had to move out of Washington? Or do you ask friends not to talk about politics, specifically the 2024 presidential election in front of you, because it provokes too much for you?
Folks with whom I work recognize they’re impacted, whether explicitly or implicitly, by what’s going on for our planet, our world, and within our political systems. None of the individuals with whom I work spend every session talking about climate change, politics, or hate-motivated violence, and this wouldn’t be expected. But, folks may feel some institutional betrayal because those in charge aren’t using their power wisely. Without some massive policy and structural changes, those in power’s inaction produces additional feelings of discomfort.
How can therapy help?
Therapy can help you learn how to better cope with the uncertainty and discomfort the headlines manufacture. You can disrupt the rumination or catastrophizing by becoming more mindfully aware of what’s happening and learning how to take empowering actions. You can express grief about what you’re observing and the lives of those being most impacted. You can also acknowledge, experience, and embrace the emotions that accompany what’s going on in the world and use these to motivate change-making behaviors.