Eco-emotions Q&A

To understand our emotional experience better, we can every now and then try to notice and name different emotions we’re experiencing. Where do we feel the emotion in our body? How can it be described? One way to recognise if the difficult emotions you experience are climate-related is to start to notice what triggers them. In what kind of situations do you feel anxious, worried, distressed, sad or overwhelmed? What kind of thoughts are linked to the emotions? Different kinds of physical symptoms can be part of climate anxiety, such as muscle tension and loss of sleep. If you get anxiety e.g. because you realise that the autumn is abnormally warm or when reading the news about the impacts of climate change, you might indeed be experiencing climate anxiety.

It sounds like this question might be coming from a person who’s doing climate/environmental action and having a difficult time taking a break.

Guilt is an important moral emotion. It tells us what we value and urges us to act according to our moral compass. But sometimes the quilt we feel is exaggerated and it might not serve its purpose, i.e. striving to align our actions with our values. Often climate activists feel a sense of responsibility to act. But as the climate crisis is a massive issue, there’s always more to do. And we can’t do it all by ourselves.

Activist burnout is a real phenomenon and it should not be taken lightly. Taking care of yourself is extremely important when working for a better future. If you are a group of people doing activism, ask for support from each other and encourage each other to recognise and name your needs and communicate them to others. Taking care of each other and creating a compassionate and resilient community is our greatest tool when tackling big issues, such as climate change and biodiversity loss. Remembering and trusting that there are so many other people who are also striving for a better future for all might ease the feeling of guilt of taking a break from action.

It is important to regularly remind ourselves that we are merely human – capable of only a limited amount of things at a time. Cultivating self-compassion and acceptance of being finite creatures is essential if we want to build regenerative action – meaning creating an impact that we can sustain in the long run. Also, every now and then it is important to stop to think about the small and big victories that we had.. Finding pride in the things we have already done can hold up our motivation and empower our action.

Preserving diverse life on this planet is the most important and honourable work there is. Remember also to celebrate your contribution to our living community!

Sometimes apathy can be a tool for our mind to protect us when things get too intense. As part of self-care, healthy distancing might help with recovering from the overwhelm. This can mean e.g. temporarily curating our media consumption and avoiding grim news. Overall, taking more time for things that we enjoy that don’t directly remind us about environmental issues might be helpful in this situation. In addition to healthy distancing, clarifying our values, being creative, as well as connecting more with our human and more-than-human community can be beneficial.

Activism is simultaneously about protesting some harmful things as well as defending what we treasure. From my point of view, environmental and climate action at its core is about joy and love for belonging to the incredible web of life and having this precious lifetime to spend on this miraculous planet. To create sustainable activism, it’s beneficial to think about how we can integrate practices of joy and gratitude into our lives and activism.

Action alone is not enough to relieve some of the most difficult eco-emotions we have. According to researcher Panu Pihkala’s Process Model of Eco-anxiety and Eco-Grief, we should have a balance between emotional engagement, action and self-care.

Pihkala writes: “Everyone can be argued to need (a) at least some engagement with the emotions of grief related to the state of the world and many other emotions are intertwined, such as anger, disappointment and guilt; (b) to practice at least some kind of action in the means possible for them; and (c) to take at least some respite from this emotional engagement and action so that they will continue to have energy for them.”

In addition, Pihkala states: “The idea is that (1) all these three are needed for constructive coping, adjustment and transformation, but (2) an overly intense focus on only one of these causes problems. People engage in these both consciously and intuitively or unconsciously. Grieving (including other emotional engagement) refers to the need to engage with changes and losses, in other words, to engage with tasks of grief processes. Distancing (including both self-care and avoidance) refers to the need to rest from the process and from engaging directly with difficult emotions such as grief.”

Source: Pihkala, P. (2022). The Process of Eco-Anxiety and Ecological Grief: A Narrative Review and a New Proposal. Sustainability, 14(24), 16628-. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416628

People are in different stages of understanding the severity of the  climate crisis. There are different levels of denial and other psychological defence mechanisms at play when it comes to facing the crisis. The global climate crisis is a monstrously huge and complex phenomenon so it might not be easy to encounter and handle the emotions and thoughts related to it.

People have different life histories and circumstances and thus also different psychological tools to process the difficult emotions and thoughts related to the climate crisis. In addition, social support and norms are some of the defining factors in a person’s psychological ability and opportunity to face the crisis.

It is also good to keep in mind that not only globally but also in national and local contexts some of us are more privileged in financial, social and other ways and consequently have more resources to address the crisis. Even though the climate crisis is undeniably affecting us all in various ways and intensities, sometimes there are more pressing problems in a person’s life, such as getting food on the table, which require their immediate attention. As inconsistent as it sounds, some of us can’t “afford” to be worried and take action. This is often linked to societal power structures and inequalities. Through our different levels of privilege and ecological impact, we also have varying levels of responsibility concerning the crisis.

Remembering these factors and cultivating empathy towards those who might still lack tools, support and opportunity to handle the difficult emotions and thoughts and take action can help us to not feel overly frustrated. It might be that we never get every single person on board in defending our shared home, the planet Earth, but this is also something we must try to learn to live with. Encountering people with curiosity, openness and empathy is a key in creating bridges between different perspectives and motivating each other toward a common goal.

Take care of yourself. Find a balance of moving your body, resting and eating healthy. If you’re feeling really overwhelmed, some temporary distancing from eco-crisis-related issues might help. This means e.g. curating how you consume news and social media. Also remind yourself about the things that bring you joy and focus more on them – whether it’s reading books, making art, listening to music or anything else.

If the emotional experience gets very intense and your daily functioning is severely impaired, contact health care professionals.

Connect with others. Don’t stay alone with your experience. Ask for support from your loved ones and engage with a group of people who have similar concerns. Discuss together how you can create psycho-social safety and support for each other. Give also time and space for enjoying life together!

Connect regularly with other nature. This can mean e.g. taking a walk in a park, a forest or by some water body, small-scale gardening, growing houseplants, going bird-watching or something else. Take moments to remind yourself how our more-than-human community comprehensively supports our lives and well-being. This planet is our precious, only home that provides us with everything – including our very existence. Find ways to strengthen the emotional bond and gratitude towards our earthly community.

Action alleviates anxiety and promotes hope. Consider what kind of climate and environmental action would you feel comfortable taking, especially together with others. There are various ways to act, and demonstrating in the streets is just one of those. Everyone has a role in our shared endeavour of protecting this planet. You can e.g. take part in the local nature preservation organisation’s activities, connect with advocate groups online, organise a reading circle on ecological topics… Make use of your skills, passions and imagination!

Emotional engagement and coping. Be curious about your emotional experience. Try to name the emotions. What are they trying to tell you – about your needs, values and what you hold dear? Recognise the tools you already have to cope with difficult emotions and thoughts. Discuss these with your peers and together share your best advice and support.

Pay attention to your body. Our emotions and thoughts do not happen separately from it. What kind of patterns do you notice with different emotions? What kind of movement or practice could alleviate the tensions or whatever the body is manifesting related to difficult eco-emotions? Engage in co-regulation: spend time with people you feel safe with, hug your loved ones, cuddle with a pet. Also, breathing is one of the easiest tools to regulate our body-mind system. There are many simple exercises, find out which would suit you best!

Cultivate empathy towards yourself and others. Your body-mind is doing its best with the tools it currently has. Also, people are in different places in life, and all of us have our struggles. Let’s be kind to ourselves and others.

In this kind of situation, the concept of disenfranchised emotions is relevant. One of the most commonly studied emotions is disenfranchised grief. Disenfranchised grief is grief that is not socially acknowledged or accepted. An example of this is mourning the death of a companion animal. When someone mourns the loss of their pet, some others may say “it was just an animal”, dismissing the grief and the fact that the pet was indeed an important family member. And it might happen that even though the person who experienced the loss is devastated, they’re not given sick leave from work. As many people who have companion animals know, this kind of treatment does not reflect the fact that humans and other animals can form very strong emotional bonds and meaningful social connections and thus, the death of the companion animal can be a source of deep grief for humans.

Regarding eco-emotions, our wider society and sometimes even people closest to us don’t seem to validate our emotions that are linked to climate change and biodiversity loss. Sometimes the reason for this is that people have difficulties recognising or accepting their own emotions and this spills over to how they treat others’ feelings. We can try to hold this in mind and understand that very rarely people mean bad things when they act as they do. Also, as the planetary crisis is such a massive and existentially serious phenomenon, some of us are very much or at least partially in denial of its severity as we don’t have the means to face the issue. These are the things that might explain the dismissive behaviour of others. It doesn’t mean you have to get comfortable with dismissive behaviour.

One thing you can try is to tell the other people who have dismissed your eco-emotions how you feel when the things that are important to you are not validated. This may be easiest to do with people who are close and feel safe to you. During this conversation talk from your own perspective, avoid accusing the other person and try to also learn more about how they experience the world. You can tell how you feel about the other person and what your shared connection means to you. You can also tell them what kind of words/actions would make you feel more valued in your relationship, e.g. them listening when you want to share that you’re worried about the climate. It is also important to remember that not all people are (yet) capable or willing to discuss some matters. Sometimes we need to agree to leave some topics out of certain relationships and find support elsewhere. Not every relationship can offer everything to us. This is why it’s important to have diversity in our social ecosystem.

Remember: your emotions are valid and you matter. Holding grief, worry and other difficult emotions over climate and environmental changes means that we’re tuned into what’s happening in the world. It means that we care. Being able to care is the core of being a human being and living a meaningful life. It is a gift to cherish. As a species, we’ve evolved to connect with others and support each other. We shouldn’t stay alone with difficult emotions and experiences. I encourage all of us to find people and places for eco-emotion peer support, whether online or live. In the midst of these turbulent times, we need each other more than ever.

For me personally, connecting mindfully with our more-than-human community is the greatest source of learning, deepening compassion and staying inspired to protect our magnificent shared home, the planet Earth. After all, it is hard to care about and protect something if you don’t have a connection to it and you’re not trying to familiarize yourself with it.

Here are some of my additional favourite resources on eco-emotions and related topics:

• Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone: Active hope (book)
• Panu Pihkala & Thomas Doherty: Climate change and happiness (podcast)
• Robin Wall Kimmerer: Braiding Sweetgrass (book)
• Green dreamer (podcast)
• My octopus teacher (film)

Also, listening to my friend Huck Middeke talk inspires me a lot. I think his thoughts on sustainability are refreshing and insightful. He has appeared on many podcasts, so you can just google his name. Also, last summer he held a TedX speech titled “The passion you need to survive”.