Eco-Anxiety & Eco-Guilt

Recently I’ve been very quiet on this website and I’ve posted rarely on social media. This is for various reasons but a big part of it was eco-anxiety and eco-guilt. Some of my choices this year have made me feel guilty. It’s hard to provide advice about living more sustainably when I feel like I’m not doing so well at it any more. I started to avoid writing for this website but I feel I’ve reached a turning point.

What is Eco-Anxiety?

From what I can gather there is no official definition of eco-anxiety. Medical websites, as well as many others, have their own definitions about what eco-anxiety is and how to deal with it.

“Anxiety around environmental issues may stem from the awareness of a rising risk of extreme weather events, losses of livelihood or housing, fears for future generations, and feelings of helplessness.”  “Researchers coined the term “eco-anxiety” to describe chronic or severe anxiety related to humans’ relationship with the environment.” – Medical News Today

“Watching our natural world change, sometimes combined with feeling personal guilt or witnessing climate indifference and elected powers failing to act with the pace required, can evoke a variety of emotions, from anger and frustration to dread, powerlessness and hopelessness. It can be uncomfortable, overwhelming and paralysing.

This phenomenon is known as climate anxiety or eco-anxiety, often defined as a chronic fear of environmental doom, a worry for what might happen if the world does not take action to avert disaster in time.” – Natural History Museum

“Eco anxiety is not a mental health problem that needs to be fixed or cured, rather it is a healthy response to the situation we are facing. Anxiety, whilst uncomfortable, is at least an awareness of the reality of the situation that we face.” – Friends of The Earth

My Spiral into Eco-Anxiety

This all started at the beginning of this year. The restrictions imposed by lockdown were hard on me; just as much as they were for everyone else.

During the first lockdown I had a sense of hope that people were finally seeing how the planet can recover when we’re not all driving to work every day or polluting the canals in Venice with thousands of tourists. Being able to hear the birds clearly without the constant drone of traffic was so good. I felt like people were coming together, supporting each other and realising that some things were more important than being able to buy the latest electronic item or the latest fashionable clothing.

Before and After Photos Show The Dramatic Effect Lockdown Had on Pollution Around The World

By Christmas 2020 everyone just wanted to see friends and family and then another lockdown was imposed on us. I was certainly not against a lockdown to reduce the pressure on the NHS but I’d been looking forward to my parents coming to see me for Christmas and then suddenly they weren’t allowed to.

Social Media

All I saw on twitter and facebook was angry people, and the only environmental news seemed to be bad again. How did everyone forget how quiet it was, and how the planet was getting healthier just a few months previously? I felt like nothing I did or could do would make any difference at all. In January a few things happened, in my personal life, that made me want to distance myself from social media. I didn’t need the additional stress of all the negative environmental news at that time. The intention was to be off social media for only a month, but in fact it’s been a lot longer than that. I have to admit that avoiding social media really did do wonders for my mental health.

Then something unexpected happened and this is where my feelings of guilt really began…

Eco-Guilt

Feeling guilty is something that contributes to anxiety, but this was a really tricky one for me to justify with regards to this website. At the end of 2020 I was contacted by someone I hadn’t seen for over 15 years but who I’d exchanged a few messages with during that time. We exchanged quite a few messages on the first day and had a face-time call. Following that we messaged each other every day. We supported each other through various things we were going through. Earlier this year he came down to see me when I really needed a friend. He lives almost 400 miles away from me, so it was quite a journey.

I’m not afraid to admit that within 10 minutes of him arriving I felt like we’d never been apart. Conversation was easy and he made me laugh a lot. I fell for him straight away, but knew this was going to be a difficult relationship to pursue because of the distance.

It turns out that we both felt that we should see where this goes. We make the effort to see each other every 2 weeks or so. We also talk several times a day. It’s certainly not an ideal situation and I’d much rather we lived a lot closer to each other. However the distance means that we really make the most of the time we spend together and don’t take each other for granted.

The problem is the amount of travelling in order to make this relationship work. How can I justify driving so much when I post about reducing your carbon footprint and only making necessary journeys? I would travel by train, but it would cost about 3 times more and take 2.5 times longer. I felt like a hypocrite.

Overcoming the Guilt

In the end I’ve realised that although I feel guilty about the amount of time I spend driving I deserve to be happy. I’m with someone who makes me feel really good about myself. At some point I’m sure I’ll move to be closer to him, but for various reasons that won’t be happening just yet. In order to make this relationship work we have to make the effort to spend time with each other and unfortunately that means that my personal carbon footprint is a lot higher than I’d like it to be. I understand that some people will judge me for that but he’s the best thing that’s happened to me… I refuse to feel guilty about that!

Now I have to focus on this website again and catch up on doing things I’ve put off.

Feeling Overwhelmed

Anybody who has struggled with anxiety will understand how completing simple tasks can become tricky. It was no different for me, I became very anxious to even respond to emails, so much so that I’ve ignored my emails for a while now. The problem is that the longer you avoid doing something the more difficult it becomes in your mind to do. So you avoid it for longer, then the anxiety gets worse. One way I cope and how I get myself out of this downward spiral is to write myself lists and tick things off when I’ve completed something. This doesn’t work for everyone as a list can also seem overwhelming, however I put even the small things on there, like doing a load of laundry, or washing my car.

I’m planning on spending more time on this website and catching up on my emails which I’ve struggled to deal with due to the feelings of anxiety. One thing I’ve learnt is that facing the problem is rarely as bad as you think it will be. Today my plan is to go through my emails and respond to as many of them as possible. I have to make a start, and I have to face my anxiety head-on.

Anxiety can affect anyone, whether that’s general anxiety or eco-anxiety. If you are feeling seriously overwhelmed, call your Doctor for some advice.

How to Cope With Eco-Anxiety

How you cope with eco-anxiety is unique to you but there are certain things that seem to help most people.

• Limit your time on social media, or avoid it altogether.
• Focus on the changes you can make rather than on the things you do that you feel guilty about.
• Make sustainable choices wherever possible. e.g.
  • Buy items with less packaging and recycle everything you can
  • Eat less meat and dairy
  • Walk or cycle short distances
  • Volunteer for Environmental groups
  • Go litter-picking
  • Use less water
  • Reduce your energy use
  • Choose an ethical bank or ethical supermarket
  • Buy less and reuse more

Even though you might feel a bit guilty about one or two of the things that you do, you can still make sustainable choices in other aspects of your life. Nobody is perfect, but we can all be better and all of the small changes we make as individuals really do make a difference.

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