climate change anxiety
Feb. 3rd, 2025 11:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spacefemHidden Brain had an interesting episode called “When It's All Too Much”, talking about mental health when you see problems around you that you can’t solve. Climate change was the topic of a lot of it. They talked about things people do in response to these problems. Some people shut down and can’t do anything, others work until they’re burnt out, both paths end in despair and inaction.
One anecdote that’s in my head: celebrate the thing you have now that you are trying to save. The guest on the podcast said that when her students were scared of losing the forest, she would ask them “Oh, so you like forests? When’s the last time you were in one?” and it would remind them to go walk around actual trees, because they might not be here forever but at least they are here now so we might as well be in them while we can, and as a bonus it’s some dopamine.
I feel lucky to have a brain that must be very balanced, because when I get down about something it wears off in a few hours. It’s probably annoying to some people around me. I was thinking about this last week, amid all the chaos I was sharing a “happy black history month!” news thing on my linkedin, and I was like man this must look so out of place to people who think the world is really burning down. The truth is, an hour ago, I DID think the world was terrible and there is lots of evidence that it’s burning down. But when I feel like that I do not post anything on linkedin.
One anecdote that’s in my head: celebrate the thing you have now that you are trying to save. The guest on the podcast said that when her students were scared of losing the forest, she would ask them “Oh, so you like forests? When’s the last time you were in one?” and it would remind them to go walk around actual trees, because they might not be here forever but at least they are here now so we might as well be in them while we can, and as a bonus it’s some dopamine.
I feel lucky to have a brain that must be very balanced, because when I get down about something it wears off in a few hours. It’s probably annoying to some people around me. I was thinking about this last week, amid all the chaos I was sharing a “happy black history month!” news thing on my linkedin, and I was like man this must look so out of place to people who think the world is really burning down. The truth is, an hour ago, I DID think the world was terrible and there is lots of evidence that it’s burning down. But when I feel like that I do not post anything on linkedin.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-03 06:23 pm (UTC)