The cure for climate anxiety

Like us, you’ve probably seen the issue of the climate crisis impairing our mental health creeping into headlines. And like us, it might keep you awake at night or chewing your fingernails.

It’s the fear of what is to come and what’s already happening, and is justified on both physical and psychological levels. As just one example, the devastating 2022 floods in KwaZulu-Natal didn’t only destroy lives, livelihoods and homes: they also caused substantial psychological trauma.

Still, we remain hopeful that humankind can avert the worst of climate crisis and that we can retain our mental health in the process – with good reason, it turns out. Researchers have found that taking action goes a long way to alleviating climate anxiety, and can even “transform feelings into optimism and determination”.

Young people who take action “feel optimistic, calmer and in control,” the study found. Likewise, another suggested that “collective action could be a promising way to address the real problem of climate anxiety.”

It’s a truth we have experienced at FFSA: when we’re working together, our vision and hope grows, we feel more energised, and we attain far more ambitious goals than we might previously have imagined.

And when enough people move from anxiety to action, entire systems eventually shift. The climate crisis, driven by fossil fuel expansion and political delay, is systemic – and so are the solutions.

If you’re reading this newsletter, the chances are that you’re already harnessing any eco- or climate anxiety you feel to take action as part of a collective. If all this is all news to you and you’re keen to join a movement, we’d love to hear from you.

Mail us on hello@fossilfreesa.org.za. We look forward to connecting!

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