S
ometimes, as vegans -
particularly for animal activists
or those that are vegan for the
animals - after witnessing so
much animal suffering in the
world, we can be left feeling
depressed, angry, and helpless.
It’s after discovering that around 150
billion animals are killed across the globe
each year to maintain our lifestyle; after
seeing videos of animal factory farming,
slaughter, animal testing and deeply
empathising with the suffering of these
innocent creatures, that we can start
exhibiting clinical anxiety, depression,
paranoia, dissociation, post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) and, in more severe
cases, even self-harm and eating disorders.
The distress can be compounded when
we see what other people are capable of
doing to animals and the cover-up that
the vast majority of the world are blissfully
unaware of.
Imagine waking up in a foreign country.
You’re not sure how you got there but you
wake up and everything is different. The
road signs don’t mean anything and the
shops in the street are only recognisable
by what they have in the windows. Other
people go merrily on their way, speaking
in a language you don’t understand and
they don’t seem to notice your discomfort.
Everything’s familiar in one way and yet
it’s like being on another planet. You
don’t know what to do so you try to find
someone who speaks your language.
People either laugh at your accent and
desperate attempts to be understood or
laugh at your clothes, hairstyle or outdated
phone. Then you remember your phone
and are relieved because ‘google’s your
friend’, right? But the battery’s flat and
your charger doesn’t fit into the wall plug.
If you’ve ever visited overseas, you may
have felt disorientated but you can live
with it because you’ve chosen to go on an
adventure. You have your phone, a direct
line to friends on social media and most
people speak English anyway. But imagine
not being a traveller nor on holiday. In a
split second, you panic thinking, ‘Oh my
god, what if I never get out of this?’.Look after
yourself
because it
doesn’t help
animals if you
are miserable