In October 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its latest report. I remember skimming it through and thinking that we are doomed, or was it just general anxiety? No matter how much I wish to remain positive, I realise that we also need to tackle the less positive things at the same time. It’s a constant battle between pessimism and optimism and finding the balance isn’t always easy.
On top of trying to find the balance, I also have to try to deal with the fear of the not so bright future. I know that I am not alone in feeling this way. Every person in the world that cares at least an inch for our planet, will at times feel despair. Seeing plastic in the sea, dead marine life due to it, rising CO2 levels and deforestation and rising sea levels make most people anxious.
The issue when it comes to such a big topic is that we need to educate ourselves, but the more I read about it the more paralyzed I felt. It really can take you to a very dark place when you lose focus, or rather focus on the wrong things. Once we have realised that the threat is there, we should read less about what can happen and put more of our energy on reading up on solutions how to tackle the threat in practice.
Eco-anxiety is not a new thing - it was highlighted already a decade ago by psychologists. We are witnessing the slow degradation of our environment, the grief and despair leads to feeling of hopelessness. Some may just think about it every now and then when reading an article or seeing a documentary, but then go back to normal life and it might not affect them too much. The issue occurs when we can’t switch off and keep on analyzing the threats and let it affect our daily life; work, sleep, social life and so on. This is the time when one should take the fears seriously.
It has been shown that eco-anxiety is more common among those with younger children, the ones who are aware that the threat might affect their direct family during their lifetime. It’s the fear of not being able to do anything to protect their offspring while in immediate danger.
I’ve suffered from eco-anxiety for quite some time. Sometimes it’s just a mild feeling of anxiety, while at times it affects me way more. The only way I’ve found to tackle it for me personally, is to be part of the solution and channel my thoughts. The cleanups and endless hours of raising awareness have made me stay on track, but sometimes it has felt like my work was a drop in an ocean full of plastic. In those times I have had to remind myself that it was still a drop and that it matters. It is very important to not only update ourselves with the doomsday information, but also look at this issue from another angle. Take Greta Thunberg as an example, who also suffered immensely from anxiety. She showed us that our greatest issue is that we don’t think that we as individuals matter, together we do.
We need to get focused. We need to be aware of the threats, but concentrate on solutions. We need to realise that we are heading towards a time where greed will have no place, but we will be in a state of survival. There will always be people who do not realise the emergency of it, or rather prefer not to see it because it makes them uncomfortable. We need to keep on focusing on being the change we want to see. We need to keep on doing our part, keep on being that little drop in the ocean. By time, that drop will have a great impact.
The decision-makers have to realise that the eco-anxiety among the millennials will increase and at one point it will have a huge negative effect on the workforce.
In Malta, mental health overall is stigmatized, and it’s time to speak up about it. It’s no different from having a physical health issue. We need to make the decision makers aware that with every construction site taking over green spaces with no greenery added, they slowly put another nail in our coffin. We need to realise that short-term profits aren’t worth the long-term damage. We are dying and they don’t seem to care because they don’t hear enough people speaking up.
On 25 May, you have the chance to show them that you care for the environment. Make them feel that they failed us and future generations. Let’s take those nails in our coffin out, one vote at a time. You are somebody.