The Australian Vegan Magazine — May-June 2017

(Ben Green) #1

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.


  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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!

  5. 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.

  6. 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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