health
Coping strategies for the
ANIMAL ACTIVIST
By Clare Mann Vegan psychologist, best-selling author, passionate animal advocate, co-founder of the Vegan Voices app
If this happened to you, what would you
feel? It’s likely to be:
- isolation
- fear
- panic
- despair
- anxiety
- desperation
Also, you’re afraid you’ll never see your
friends and family again, and as time goes
on, your panic increases. One day, you
recognise someone and rush up to them,
saying, ‘Thank God!’ only to be shrugged
off and hear, ‘What’s your problem? Do I
know you?’. Now your despair would turn
to grief, loss and a fear you’ve never felt
before. The isolation and panic would be
unbearable and the more you tried to get
people to understand you, the worst it
would become as they got angry, telling
you never to speak to them again. What
has happened to your world?
If you can imagine this, you’ll catch a
glimpse of what it can be like for someone
who’s become vegan because for them, the
world they knew has become alien. This
level of despair can be felt by vegans who
have found out about the enormous level
of animal cruelty in the production of food,
clothing, entertainment, testing on animals
for makeup and household products and
more. They can be continually traumatised
by the animal abuse that silently underpins
our everyday lifestyles and other people’s
collusion with and refusal to talk about it.
One day their eyes opened and
everything changed. They no longer see
meat on a plate but a living creature
begging for its life. Milk or cheese brings
up images of a mother cow bashing her
head against a crate desperately trying
to reach for her newborn calf which has
just been taken away so their milk can
be stolen for people to drink. The leather
couch which was comfortable before is the
skin of an animal and every time they see
the hand-wash in the bathroom at work
they hear rabbits screeching as it’s tested
on their eyes. The horror story continues
and gets worse when other people dismiss,
undermine or laugh at their “sensitivity”.
Imagine moving to a new area and
your friends and family refuse to visit. You
tell them it’s like paradise, the weather’s
better, the air cleaner and the lifestyle’s
healthier. They make excuses why they
can’t visit and if you push them too hard
they say, ‘It’s not all it’s cracked up to
be! You’ll realise that one day and want
to come back’. You tell them you used to
feel just like this until you moved. Still,
they refuse, say it wouldn’t work for them
and that they’re too old to change. You tell
them that by staying where they were born,
they’re actually adding to the destruction of
the planet and behind closed doors a lot of
suffering goes into supporting their lifestyle.
Now they get angry, refuse to discuss any
aspect of your new life and ban you from
talking about it when you see them.
A lot of people who have physically
moved experience something very similar.
Perhaps this is because when you leave
you’re saying, ‘Somewhere else is better’.
The silent message says that what you’ve
left behind is not as good as what you have
now or else you would return. This means
that their choice to stay is not the best one
and people resist this.
Vegans experience something very
similar when they tell their family and
friends that they’ve become vegan. Despite
the evidence of the health, environmental,
animal welfare, ethical, economic and
spiritual benefits of being vegan, people
still resist and many refuse to even visit
their world.
Can a vegan ever feel at home again
living in a non-vegan world?
It is definitely possible to create greater
ease and enjoyment living alongside a
non-vegan world. The vegan will never
accept or be neutral to what happens to
animals behind closed doors but they can
find a way out of their anxiety, grief,
isolation and despair.
Here are some strategies to help vegans
maintain their psychological well-being.- Create self-care routines
Make sure you eat healthily, exercise,
rest and have regular down-time. Remind
yourself that you are an example to others
of how good it is to be vegan. - Find friends that understand
Surround yourself with people who share
your values and understand how you feel
because they have or are experiencing the
same thing. Seek their help when you need
to talk through your difficulties but avoid
people who are negative and make you feel
worse. Learn to listen and help others and
together find positive ways forward. - Become a great communicator
Learn to talk about what is important
to you in a way that gets people saying,
‘That’s interesting. Tell me more!’ Keep
an open mind, ask questions and listen to
what other people say. Avoid criticising
people, instead, partner with them to
talk about how most people don’t want
to abuse animals, trash the planet and
mistreat other people. - Focus on creating a vegan world
Avoid focusing on how awful the world
is and feeling powerless to change it. You
don’t have to change the world by yourself.
You have to change your world and in
doing so, you become the best example
for veganism. Focus on what you want the
world to be like and donate one healthy,
happy, open-minded and generous person
to the cause – you! - Take action to improve the plight
of animals
Decide what’s the best form of advocacy
for you. You may work directly to uncover
cruel practices going on behind closed
doors, write letters to MPs or newspapers
to increase people’s awareness or volunteer
at a shelter or vegan outreach. You don’t
have to do everything nor burn yourself
out. Find an outlet where you feel you are
contributing and are part of a growing group
of vegans taking action around the world. - Be nice to yourself
Don’t criticise yourself because you
think you should be doing more or feel
guilty if you have moments of happiness
whilst knowing animals suffer so much.
It doesn’t help the animals if you are
miserable. What does help them is looking
after yourself so you can be their voice
over a long period of time.
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