Jenn believes merely crossing our fi ngers and hoping for the best
can be dangerous, and has stopped using the word ‘hope’ to
describe how she’s feeling. “Hope is what people do or say when
they have lost control,” she says. “If you have someone who is dying
of terminal cancer, you hope they will get better or you hope medi-
cine will come up with a solution. But it kind of gives you a free pass
to not actually do anything, and you just hope that someone else will
deal with the doing.”
But this doesn’t mean Jenn has waved the white fl ag. Instead, she
wants each one of us to get out there and make a change. “Do some-
thing, do anything, even if it’s small. Start small and grow big. Don’t
talk about it, don’t hope for it, don’t think about it and don’t plan for
it – get off your butt and do it!” she implores.
“I’m not giving up; I’m still kicking and screaming, and I think abso-
lutely everybody should until the very end. These are the kinds of
characteristics we admire and cherish most deeply in one another
and in society – that willingness to just really stand up for our prin-
ciples and fi ght until the very end. We should not lose that spirit,
regardless of where we’re at – we should hold onto that.”
Perhaps that is where the antidote to eco grief lies. Instead of carry-
ing on business as usual, we pitch in and help radicalise what ‘busi-
ness as usual’ means. My friend was already doing precisely that by
urging our local council to take climate action. Instead of hoping, we
can start doing. It may not wholly lessen the grief weighing on our
hearts, but we know we are actively playing a part in creating a better
future – and that’s the fi rst step.
In Dr Susie Burke’s Climate Change
Empowerment Handbook, she outlines
psychological strategies to help people
cope with the profound implications of
climate change. Susie hopes her eight
insights, which make up the acronym
ACTIVATE, will help us stay engaged
with the issue, see where our own
behaviour plays a part and participate
in societal change to restore a safe
climate – while taking care of our own
mental health in the process.
Acknowledge feelings about climate
change to yourself and others, and learn
ways of managing feelings so you can
face and not avoid the reality of climate
change.
Create social norms about protecting the
environment so people see that ‘everyone
is doing it’ and ‘it’s normal to be green’.
Talk about climate change and break the
collective silence so that more and more
people see it as a risk that requires action.
Inspire positive visions of a low-energy,
sustainable, zero-carbon world so that
people know what we are working towards
and can identify steps to get there.
Value it – show people how their core val-
ues are often linked to other values that
are about restoring a safe climate, and
that caring about these issues actually
reinforces their core values.
Act personally and collectively to con-
tribute to climate change solutions, and
feel engaged and less despairing.
Time is now. Show people that climate
change is here, now and for sure, so
they see it is timely and relevant to them
and impacts the things they care deeply
about.
Engage with nature to restore your spirits
and connect with the very places you are
trying to protect.
ACCESS THE HANDBOOK VIA THE AUSTRALIAN PSYCHOLOGICAL
SOCIETY WEBSITE: psychology.org.auEIGHT WAYS
TO DEAL WITH
ECO ANXIETY