Ask HN: How do I keep climate change from wrecking my mental health? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do I keep climate change from wrecking my mental health?

14 pointsweakfish23 comments

Title. I'm a 20 year old college student with an anxiety disorder, and that makes it fairly hard to not hit thought spirals. Particularly, climate change. I'm a vegetarian and I don't drive much at all, I don't use Amazon, etc. but I still have a hard time not just _thinking_ about it all the time and it's starting to affect my mental health. Obviously, we should all be scared as shit, but I don't know if it's healthy to feel this way all of the time if I've already taken steps.

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The problem for you is not climate change, it's anxiety. Focus your energy on learning how to manage your anxiety, not how to avoid thinking about specific topics.

A book I strongly recommend: Rewire Your Anxious Brain: How to Use the Neuroscience of Fear to End Anxiety, Panic, and Worry. A very practical and useful book that changed my life.

If you're more spiritually inclined, I also highly recommend Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth.

"it's starting to affect my mental health"

Are you sure it isn't a symptom of your mental health, instead of the other way around? Your mental health may be affecting how you perceive the things going on around you, versus the things going on around you creating new or increased symptoms.

Anxiety can provoke obsessive responses, and vice versa, which seems to apply to what you've suggested. I'd look into that at least, since it can give you ideas of what you need to focus on to cope better.

Just about everything 2020 is hard on peoples' mental health. Take care of yourself as best you can. I actually really enjoyed the cleanliness and quiet/calmness of the air during the height of lockdown. Sad to see, hear and smell it all going back to where it was... but looking back on it does bring some satisfaction.

No, we should not all be scared as shit. The earth could get hit by an asteroid every day and we would all die, the universe could collapse and we no longer exist. I can get diagnosed with cancer. My kids or wife could die. In 200 years the chances that anybody remembers you is almost 0.

Life is scary! We can't control all of it and that's ok. If you feel overwhelmed please try considering getting help.

Physical activity may help... https://neurosciencenews.com/physical-activity-depression-15...

I prefer losing myself in music... https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/13-minute-musical-prescripti...

If you live in the city, consider moving... https://www.popsci.com/physical-surroundings-cities-mental-i...

I'm not a health professional but Magnesium at bed time may help... https://www.huffpost.com/entry/magnesium-the-most-powerf_b_4...

Have you considered joining movements/projects that want to take on more than what one person alone could do? ksaj is right that anxiety can provoke obsessive responses, and maybe while you learn to deal with anxiety in an effective way, you can channel the obsession into something beneficial.

This is good advice. Seek treatment for your anxiety (preferably not only pharmaceutical) and join a group. Not being alone in this helps a lot, and from what you wrote it also is the only way to do more than you are already doing.

There are lots of good answers in this thread but I'll give my take on it. Sorry if it's a bit all over the place.

Honestly I've just completely given up on our world. As such I feel no responsibility to improve it because I had nothing to do with getting it into the current state.

I legitimately enjoy everything I get because I know I'm much better off than most.

Everything is going to hell in a handbasket and all the systems we set up to try to fix these kinds of problems are corrupt or impotent. You have ultra-rich hoarding everything and the average person is flat-out treading water. It can't continue and nothing is sustainable.

I've decided to not have kids and bring them into this.

I'm not anxious, just resigned to our fate.

Honestly I just hope I die before everything collapses. Once you let go and stop hoping for more you will end up happier. You were lied to by the media which you should stop watching because what you watch becomes what you think.

Earlier generations and our leaders and special interest groups screwed us. I'll see you on the other side.

Sorry, not trying to bring anyone down, that's just how I see it. Maybe I will feel differently tomorrow, who knows.

Feel free to ignore.

This isn't easy, but you can change how you think about things - frame the thoughts in a different way or change the subject. You could approach it from the perspective of curiosity or devil's advocate (not saying to change your convictions, just the thought process). Or try to jump to a tangentially related topic, like "how does green tech product 'X' work?", using 'X' as delivery drones, Tesla autopilot, etc.

The thing that I do in many situations/topic, especially ones the scope of which you are thinking about, is to accept the fact that you are already screwed. Do what you know you have to do, but don't overthink it. Acceptance of the situation and that you are screwed should lead you to appreciate the few times when you aren't being screwed.

Accept the fact that you are already dead so that you can truly start living. (not condoning suicide, but rather the idea that everyone dies, so don't let the negative thoughts ruin your life)

I know it probably won’t be the advice you’ll expect to hear, but I’ve been there and perhaps just as badly.

What helped me was just to accept that I’ve probably got 10 good years, maybe 20, and I’m okay with that. My parents would be in old age, I don’t have kids to worry about right now either and I’ll do what I can to make it better - but I’ve accepted the worst. Even the worst case I’m at peace with. I’ll be 40 around then, which is probably better than most humans through the course of history.

Bleak but also liberating. Makes you value your time a lot more.

What are you good at, what do you have an aptitude for? Think about where you could pitch in, where it would help..

(Also, in your life, do favors for Future You. Future You will be at a party someday and the cute one making small talk with you will say, 'hey, tell me about your HN username." You won't want to say "uh".)

A lot of vested interests want you to be anxious about it, and directing resources their way as a result.

Climate change is real, but your influence on it is about as large as your ability to alter the rotational speed of the planet.

Don't worry about it.

Research mindfulness. In short, it's about being more in the present and less in the past and in future. Excessive thinking about potential problems in the future can turn into anxiety, so mindfulness should help.

There is a book called "Stop Obsessing" by Edna B. Foa and Reid Wilson that contains a program for overcoming obsessive thoughts that might be of use to you.

Step 1: Stop consuming the news and other ad-based media triggering your anxiety.

...including Hacker News (it used to be worse pre-covid, the pandemic has somewhat diverted the flood).

You could try saying to yourself every time you feel yourself starting to spiral.

"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."

This comment from another thread may be helpful to you:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24606686

A big part is the feeling of powerlessness.

Find ways to put at least some of your weight behind efforts toward clean energy or even more important, less corrupt government and leadership.

Pick up a copy of the book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.

Its a classic, and the information is still as relevant then as it is today.

Keep in mind that we are in an interglacial period, between ice ages. And no one knows when the next ice age will begin.

I think you massively underestimate the current situation. See “Past concentration“ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_in_Earth's_at... I think it’s save to assume that the cycle of hotter and cooler periods may has already been severely altered. Sure, no one knows, but...

You should be proud of yourself, since you do much more than 90% of people.

Listen dude, I've had a few libations and am starting to feel that your concern is valid. It is so easy togo along with the crowd, just remember the one most important th1G 1$ Tha# yo? M##/er.

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