South Carolina–based psychotherapist Markesha Miller, Ph.D., also points to cognitive dissonance, our brain’s ability to hold two opposing thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes simultaneously. For instance, believing pollution and natural land degradation are bad yet still driving an SUV or purchasing products made with palm oil. “If people pretend that the problem does not exist, then they don’t have to face the uncomfortable emotions or actions that may come with acknowledging it.” Being a climate optimist, then, is not simply about maintaining blind positivity but also acknowledging the challenges and choosing to focus on solutions instead while also proactively protecting our mental health. Here are some expert-backed ideas for how to do so. “The antidote to overwhelm and depression is taking action,” says Jodie Skillicorn, D.O. “For example, when I look out the window in the fall and see the mass of leaves, it feels too overwhelming to even start. Yet if I can commit to just raking for 10 minutes…I inevitably end up working longer than I intended and often finish the task.” “If we all committed to taking one action each day, however small,” Skillicorn adds, “our actions would be amplified, expanding outward like a ripple.” Erin Wiley, MA, LPCC, advises limiting your news intake to 30 minutes a day or reading only one news article on the subject each morning to stay informed without getting too overwhelmed. “When we hear about terrifying and life-threatening occurrences all day long, it saps us of our emotional reserves,” says Wiley. “Climate change is best understood through the lens of trauma,” adds environmental psychologist Renée Lertzman, Ph.D., founder of Project InsideOut, a forthcoming resource hub that connects activists and clinical psychologists. “Learning about, encountering, and coming to terms with the climate crisis is a form of trauma. We all have our threshold for what we’re capable of taking in and engaging with. It doesn’t mean anyone cares more or less, or there’s anything fundamentally wrong with us. This is our brain’s way of protecting us.” According to Lertzman, this process of “attuning deeply to ourselves” and bringing curiosity and compassion to our own experience can keep stress levels in a zone that enables us to be functional, proactive, agile, and resilient. In addition, we must recognize and honor the ways in which our experiences differ from others’. For instance, Clark points to how the climate crisis illuminates the health care disparities that have been pervasive in our country. Recent studies have shown how Black people are three times1 more likely to die from exposure to small particle air pollution1 than the general population. Maintaining this awareness will help us to keep equity at the center of the climate conversation. Talking to friends and family when you’re feeling overwhelmed can help de-stigmatize mental health concerns associated with climate change. It’s also worthwhile to let the people in your life know that you’re there if they ever need someone to hold space for their anxieties about the climate. “The best thing you can do for someone struggling with climate anxiety is to actively show up for them and affirm what they are feeling,” says Lertzman. “Encourage them to open up, be honest, and have candid, compassionate conversations about the feelings they may be scared to give voice to. Tuning into others and really understanding their anxieties, fears, guilt, even aspirations, will help them self-regulate and be able to productively process and move forward with their feelings.” Once these feelings are out in the open, Lertzman says, we can work out a personal environmental action plan that feels achievable, impactful, and exciting.
