Anxious About Climate Change? Make a 'Positivity Sandwich'

Anxiety, grief, anger, fear, helplessness. The emotional toll of climate change is broad-ranging, especially for young people. Many worry about what the future holds, and a daily grind of climate anxiety and distress can lead to sleeplessness, an inability to focus, and worse. Some young people wonder whether it's moral to bring children into the world, while others grieve for the natural world. Activists, climate psychologists, and others in the fight against climate change offer a range of ways to the AP to build resilience and help manage emotions. More:

• Get active in your community: Beat isolation by finding ways to connect with like-minded people and help nature, says climate psychologist Laura Robinson. Work locally to convince more residents to give up grass lawns and increase biodiversity with native plants, for instance. Help establish new green spaces, join projects to protect water, develop wildlife corridors, or decrease pesticide use to save frogs, insects, and birds. Work to get the word out on turning down nighttime lighting to help birds and lightning bugs.

• Make a 'positivity sandwich': Climate news and the onslaught of disaster and mayhem in general has become heavy and overwhelming for many with the rise of social media and mobile phone use. Try scheduling breaks from notifications on your phone or stepping back from the news cycle in other ways. Or, consider the idea of a "positivity sandwich," where you begin with a good piece of news, followed by a harder tidbit, then finish with a second feel-good story.
• Model behaviors for your kids: Try to model sustainable behaviors for your children while educating them on the importance of helping the environment. Suggestions include driving an EV; not eating meat; recycling and composting; and limiting air travel. "I try to explain things to my son so he can at least have some understanding of how the world and the ecosystem works as a whole," says Phoebe Yu, 39, of Fremont, California. "I do think kids are able to absorb that and turn that into some level of action."
• Collective power: Climate scientist Kate Marvel urges people to think differently about their place in preserving the environment. "A lot of times, the anxiety and the hopelessness comes from a feeling of powerlessness," she says. "And I don't think any of us is powerless. ... Collectively, we're incredibly powerful." More here.