Tag: mind

We live in a culture of immediacy. Everything happens instantly, and we can are so closely connected to each other with social media and other forms of technology. We’re often bombarded with new information that can be overwhelming and take its toll. With all that’s going on around the world and in our own individual lives, things can get pretty hectic. Between career, home responsibilities, and relationships, it’s no wonder so many of us get stressed out!
In my clinical practice, I’ve worked with thousands of individuals who felt burdened by a heavy load and were seeking relief. A huge part of my therapeutic message through the years has been to help educate to prevent and recover from burnout. Here are some strategies that I’ve found to be helpful.
One of the first things you can do is to notice and honor the signs of burnout.
A lot of us seem to be going in circles, spinning our wheels, and not even fully recognizing that we’re unhappy, disappointed, or emotionally down. But you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge. Our bodies can often give us great clues into whether or not something is wrong. Pay attention to what yours is telling you. Do you have headaches? Are you exhausted all the time? Do your muscles ache? Are you often overly hungry? Don’t have much of an appetite? If you observe that some things are a little “off” and you’re not feeling like yourself, apply the advice you’d likely give a good friend in this situation: take a break, do something to relax or take the edge off, and perhaps make a change or two in order to restore your emotional well-being.
In hopes of alleviating the burnout we all feel at some point or another, it’s important to determine what characteristics or traits are most important to you and what kind of person you want others to perceive you as.
For example, I really want to be seen as someone who doesn’t allow my career to interfere with my relationships with my children. Anything that I think threatens this ideal can make me feel shame. Consider what identities are most valuable to you. Maybe you want to be perceived as someone who values fitness and health, or maybe it’s important to you for others to view you as someone who is financially stable. After identifying these things, please try to understand that you will not always live up to your ideal…and that’s okay! Of course, we should all have goals, but placing unrealistic expectations can bring self-loathing and unnecessary guilt. Don’t set yourself up for failure; instead, try to be self-forgiving when you fall short.
Another way to beat burnout is to focus on your growth instead of your imperfections.
When things don’t go as planned, try to ask yourself what you can learn. For example, maybe you didn’t get that promotion you’d been wanting, or maybe you weren’t able to lose the baby weight as quickly as you had hoped. Instead of beating yourself up, try to take the disappointment in stride, learn from it, and move on equipped with a little more wisdom than you had before. By recognizing the progress you’ve made, you’ll be better able to combat feelings of shame or emotional burnout that we’re all prone to experience.
Burnout looks a little different from person to person, but it always involves some sort of emotional and/or mental exhaustion, lack of motivation, and overall feeling of discontentment. When (not if) you feel burnt out, I encourage you to slow down, practice self-care, acknowledge your personal idealisms, then focus on the growth and progress you make.

We’re quickly heading into what many of us consider to be the new year, and resolutions weigh heavily on the mind. Setting resolutions is a tradition–most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere–in which a person commits to beginning an act of self-improvement on New Year’s Day. The concept of setting New Year’s resolutions is very well known, and disappointment about not sticking to those resolutions is equally familiar to many people.

Research has shown that the most common reason for failing to keep New Year’s resolutions is setting unrealistic goals. Other factors uncovered in research include not keeping track of progress and making too many resolutions. Close to half of Americans make New Year’s resolutions (45 percent), and a whopping 8 percent are successful at achieving their resolutions.

The types of resolutions chosen by each person vary but are usually focused on self-improvement. As the year comes to a close a natural process of reflection occurs, along with a drive to resolve what hasn’t been working over the past year. For many people, December is the first time all year that any kind of pondering has taken place.

According to Nielsen the top 10 resolutions for 2015 are as follows:

– Stay fit and healthy (37%)

– Lose weight (32%)

– Enjoy life to the fullest (28%)

– Spend less, save more (25%)

– Spend more time with family and friends (19%)

– Get organized (18%)

– Will not make any resolutions (16%)

– Learn something new/new hobby (14%)

– Travel more (14%)

– Read more (12%)

Pros

It rings true that a new year would be a time for a “new you.” January brings the opportunity for starting fresh, and using this time of year as a kickoff for new behaviors makes sense. The psychology of having a starting point that marks a new beginning suits our human nature and makes us feel focused and committed to our goals. Resolutions also encourage us to reflect on what might not be working. Checking in on what needs a tune-up or which major changes would offer great benefit to well-being can be a wonderful byproduct of setting New Year’s resolutions.

Cons

Clearly these personal commitments are hard to maintain as the year progresses, and we lose sight of what we originally intended to accomplish. New Year’s resolutions can leave you feeling like a failure or disappointed in your efforts. We often have a tendency to over-commit and set unrealistic goals, which can lead to darker feelings of self-hatred or shame around disappointing results. Resolutions can also be misdirected and focused on surface issues, when the real issues run deeper. They can be a “quick fix” method of personal growth, which puts you at risk for not really resolving the deeper struggles that drive what seems maladaptive to the naked eye.

Fit Or Flop

New Year’s resolutions are a flop. Statistics show that only 8 percent of Americans follow through on their commitments in the new year. New Year’s resolutions are particularly problematic because they imply that if the commitments are not made and started by January 1 then the boat has been missed.

The truth is that we can set intentions for improving ourselves and our lives any time of the year. The focus should be on shifting and designing your life for success and on taking a deeper look at what drives your inner thoughts and feelings. Treating symptoms without looking at the underlying causes never truly resolves the problem. New Year’s resolutions, while well intended, are not a great way to make major changes in your life. Just like your physical health, maintaining an ongoing effort to live well and to take care of yourself all year long is a much more productive way to live.

Khari Touré is a spoken word poet whose messages drip off the tongue, sweeter than honey. He has a strong value system and loves his three daughters more than himself, something all parents can intimately understand. As his oldest daughters traveled through school, he began to witness an onslaught of verbal abuse directed towards them. Whether it was their size, skin color, or hair, Ashé, 15, and Nia, 6, began to feel less than their former selves. So, Touré decided to speak to them in the form he knows best–rap.
He created a body-positive rap which he flipped into a music video that has now reached thousands of people. Titled “Love Yourself,” Touré penned a song for every child who has been made fun of or who has felt less than themselves because of relentless bullies.
“Seeing both my [older] daughters bullied, it made me want to write a song of affirmation for children that they could repeat to themselves. It was a love letter not only to my daughters, but to every child who’s been bullied, made fun of, and made to feel less-than, unworthy, or unattractive,” Touré explained.
Not only did he include his precious daughters, but he drew in kids from the community who had real-life experiences that included children with autism, Down syndrome, and ADHD. It serves as a positive reminder that children with disabilities suffer more than your average adolescent.
Throughout the video, Touré speaks to his daughters individually and his community collectively reminding them that they are all beautiful, smart, and kind.
“I’m beautiful. I’m worthy. And those mean words can’t hurt me. I’m priceless. I’m smart. And I love myself, I’m focused on my health.”
His hope is that these lyrics will continue to resonate with children and serve as a constant reminder of their significance. If you’re different, that’s something to celebrate because it makes you unique and truly one-of-a-kind.

As the new year approaches, one of the top things that people start to think about is their New Year’s resolutions. A lot of these New Year’s resolutions are centered around weight loss, exercising, eating better, and overall health concerns. People get super excited about figuring out what their New Year’s resolution will be, planning for it, and then January 1, putting that plan into action.
Sounds great, right? New year, new you!
As you may or may not know, I am all for encouraging YOU to be the best YOU possible. BUT…I am going to challenge you. I want to challenge you to make only one resolution this year, and that is not to make any resolutions at all.
The word “resolution” is defined as a firm decision to do or not do something. Instead of a resolution, I want you to focus not on the action of not doing something, but on setting goals that you can aim for, plan for, and achieve. The word “goal” is defined as the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. This new year, instead of focusing on what you won’t do, you are going to make a list of your goals, and then create an action plan to make those goals a reality.
So, how do you go about setting goals for the new year and making sure you don’t abandon those goals?
The first thing I want you to think about is your priorities in life. Make sure that whatever goals you set and put in place line up with your priorities. Then, start thinking about what categories you want to set goals in. Create a financial goal, a health goal, a family and relationship goal, etc. This way you are improving many areas of your life, not just one. But be sure to create a realistic number of goals. You want your goals to push you and stretch you, but by the same token, you don’t want to create so many goals that they are impossible to attain.
Once you have created a list of goals you want to accomplish in 2016, the next step is to create an action plan to ensure that these goals don’t just become words on paper. I highly recommend sharing your goals with someone who can hold you accountable, like a spouse, a colleague, or a friend. Don’t laugh, but we all know a great way to keep yourself accountable is on social media, so don’t be scared to share your list on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or whatever sites you are on, so that your social family can check in on you and your goals and keep you accountable.
Write your goals out somewhere visible where you can see them. You can put them in a note on your phone, post them on your refrigerator, or make your list the screensaver on your computer. This will be a daily reminder of what you are working toward. And as you reach certain goals throughout the year, be sure to celebrate your success and reward your hard work and effort. Sticking to goals and achieving them is something to be proud of.
Did you know that 45 percent of people make New Year’s resolutions each year, and of those, only 8 percent actually stick to them? Don’t let that be you. That is why for 2016 you are going to set goals, create a plan for those goals, and then spend the year striving to achieve them. And when you do, I cannot wait to celebrate with you.
I TRUST AND BELIEVE in who you are, and therefore, I know that you can dream big in 2016 and make it the best year ever.

We’ve talked about how the size and shape of your body affect pretty much everything in your life, from your risk of developing a variety of diseases and your life expectancy, to your salary and the quantity and quality of your romantic relationships. If you’re overweight or obese, several new studies add more doom and gloom to an already bleak picture: Overweight men face discrimination both as job applicants and retail customers. And if they’re interested in politics, they’re less likely to appear on ballots and, when they do, they’re less likely to win.
The first two studies—the ones that measured discrimination in hiring as well as in customer service—were conducted by Enrica Ruggs, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. The study was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Ruggs and her team had a number of non-overweight male actors apply for a variety of retail jobs. Then, they had those same men wear prosthetics to make them appear overweight and sent them out to apply for similar jobs at other stores.
Those same men–both in their natural state and disguised as overweight–also shopped at retail stores. The goal of these experiments, says Ruggs, was “to see if there were differences in the treatment they received when they were not heavy versus heavy.” In all cases, the “overweight” men were subjected to what Ruggs calls “interpersonal discrimination.”
The men were asked to rate how they were treated on a 0 to 6 scale, with 0 meaning they felt no discrimination and 6 meaning that they felt quite a lot of it. In the retail settings, Ruggs also had observers who were pretending to shop but were actually watching the interactions between the store staff and the actors/customers and taking notes.
The observers and the “customers” reached the same conclusions: “Overweight” customers did, in fact, “experience greater amounts of interpersonal discrimination or subtle negative behavior toward them,” says Rugs. “Employees they interacted with would try to end the interaction early, there was less affirmative behavior like less nodding or smiling; there were more avoidance types of behavior like frowning and trying to get out of the interaction.”
There was a third component to these studies as well, and this time, it turned out that real customers may discriminate against overweight employees. The researchers filmed a series of fake marketing videos for several rather generic products, such as coffee mugs and suitcases. The actors in these videos were sometimes overweight, sometimes not. Actual customers watched those videos, which they were told would be used in online ad campaigns.
After watching the counterfeit ads, the customers filled out a questionnaire. The results were depressing, but not terribly surprising: People who watched the “overweight” employees saw them as less professional, less neat, less clean, and more careless. According to Ruggs, those perceptions spilled over into the viewer’s overall impression of the products and the manufacturers as well.
The same type of subtle discrimination rears its ugly head in elections too.
Mark Roehling, a professor of human resources at Michigan State University, and his wife, Patricia Roehling, a psychology professor at Hope College, analyzed data from a number of 2008 and 2012 U.S. senate elections. Their research assistants obtained color photos of candidates in 126 primary and general elections and categorized them as either normal weight, obese, or overweight.
One especially interesting aspect of both Ruggs’ and the Roehling’s studies is that they turn gender stereotypes on their head. We have a tendency to think of overweight women as more likely than men to be stigmatized or discriminated against. But it turns out that weight-related bias is pretty much gender neutral.
The exception, according to the Roehlings, is the issue of getting on the ballot in the first place. Obese candidates—male or female—were less likely than slimmer political hopefuls to appear. But when candidates were simply a little overweight, women were less likely than men to appear.
However, when it came to actual voting, the discrimination was gender neutral, with overweight or obese male and female candidates equally likely to lose to their more svelte opponents. According to Mark Roehling, there’s no question that heavier candidates didn’t do as well as slimmer ones (New Jersey Governor and one-time presidential candidate Chris Christie being a notable exception). And as if that wasn’t bad enough, “the greater size disparity between candidates, the greater the vote share of the more slender candidate,” adds Roehling.
The Roehlings’s study was published in the journal Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

Scientists tell us that money alone doesn’t make us happy—it’s what we spend it on that matters. Although buying things can make us feel good for a while, buying an experience—like a vacation—tends to make us feel even better for a longer period of time. Why? Because we can take a much longer time planning it, and more importantly, we can savor the memory of the experience forever.

Planning a vacation begins with thinking about the occasion you want to have rather than the kind of satisfaction that comes from acquiring objects. Haven’t you had this happen to you before? You thought those shoes, or that sweater, or those earrings would make you feel good for a longer time than they did? 

Things tend to give us a boost when we first acquire them—but typically this fades once we’ve had them for a while. Materialists get caught in this trap. They will often put very high hopes on what a thing will help them feel only to become disappointed when it doesn’t live up to their expectations. The emptiness is fueled by a cycle that begins with an unrealistically high expectation of what a new possession will bring.

Planning a vacation starts in a different place. 

First, it typically isn’t an impulse. So much of shopping for things has the emphasis on an urge or a whim. The immediacy of the purchase and payoff nudge us to the next desire. Thinking about what we would like to experience in planning a vacation ushers us into the future in a different way. We begin thinking about what we want to feel and what other experiences we want to have. The anticipated excitement generates good feelings now about the future. When we think about an upcoming break in this way our anticipated enjoyment pays off immediately—and draws that good feeling into the future.

Then there is the vacation experience itself. For most of us the occasion generates good feelings, even if it wasn’t perfect; it provides a break in our routine because we’re engaged in different activities than usual. We now have three features going into the payoff of feeling good: First we have the planning, followed by the anticipation, and then the actual holiday. The event has already given us more than what we would have gotten from buying some gadget or article of clothing.

The big payoff comes with our forever memories, photographs, recollections, and discussions. What comes after the vacation is savoring a positive rumination about what took place and the excitement that went into it. From the beginning plans to the savoring we create an extended time of feeling good. Rarely can the purchase of an object give us this kind of sustainable joy.

Of course, there are exceptions: The new car we’ve been waiting for, the unique piece of furniture we found in an antique shop—many things can repay us every time we encounter them. However, in general, our money is often better invested in experiences rather than belongings.

Ultimately, the distinction between what makes us happy and what doesn’t tends to be about how much gratitude we have for something. If we buy an object and our gratitude for it fades rapidly, so will our sense of how pleased it makes us. We are inclined to give vacations a higher ranking on our gratitude list. In this way they tend to move to the top of our mind when we think about what we appreciate—and what brings us delight when we recall it.

Several years ago, I experienced a significant weight loss. As great as that sounds, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses — or wholly intentional. The pounds fell off as a result of eating issues surrounding a severe gastrointestinal illness. I could barely stand to look at food. (Fun, right?)

I won’t go into too many details, but during this stage of my life, I’d never seen a lower number on the scale — a number that held for about two and a half years. Like you’d expect, my old size-10 clothes didn’t fit anymore. I was suddenly wearing 0s and 2s.

However, my thinnest frame was never built to last. At 5’8″ with natural curves and an athletic body type, when I recovered and learned to eat normally again, most of the weight went back on. My reinvented curves took some getting used to; I finally learned to start embracing the modern boobs and booty that are oh-so-popular today. However, I needed to make external changes to help support the internal ones.

The transition back to a healthy size 6 or 8 was far more gradual than the initial drop had been, though. Filtering through my closet during my transitional months was a lesson in psychological warfare. I was constantly trying on (and taking off), tons and tons of clothes that didn’t fit — or even if it technically fit, it didn’t look right anymore. So as the months passed, I didn’t even realize that the contents of my closet were bothering me. Each and every morning.

Shift dresses no longer looked chic, but bunchy. Boatneck tops seemed to amplify my chest in an unflattering manner. Low-cut pants didn’t hit me correctly, just made me tug at the waistband. Every day, a chorus of “ugh, no” rang out of my mouth as mounds of clothes hit the floor that I couldn’t wear.

This went on for months, for a couple reasons:

Attachment. I have a deep love of style, and clothes are the building blocks. So as I gained weight, I struggled with seeing certain fashions and items bite the dust in my look. If I loved a dress or pair of pants, I was reluctant to let the item go — even if I knew it didn’t fit me anymore and was just taking up closet space without usefulness. I’m a little sentimental about clothes. (And you very well might be, too, I’m sure.)

Delusion. As an offshoot of attachment, there’s delusion. I think every woman has a piece in the back of her closet — that dress she wore for NYE ’09, those high-school jeans — that she thinks she could wear at some point in the future, perhaps. I mean, maybe you’ll be that size again. But while you might call the size-4 dress “aspirational,” I’ll call it self-sabotaging.

Here’s the flaw in that logic, the flaw in keeping clothes around that do not fit: Bodies are meant to change. If we start treating our bodies like they should fit specific sizes, that one size is our blanket “ideal,” we’ll never be truly accepting of ourselves.

We are children, and then someday we have children. We pour our energy into our fitness, and then into our jobs. We put on “happy weight” in a new relationship, and then we take it off in a season of stress. It happens to everyone. This is all natural, normal, even healthy. You don’t want to beat yourself up about every pound or calorie. Because bodies change all the time. As a woman, especially, I had to really embrace that truth. Once I did, I was ready to create an environment of change as acceptable — not hold onto my need to control and resist.

Once I changed my mindset, I asked myself if anything was holding me back from total acceptance of my newer, healthy frame. First and foremost, I thought of my closet — and I immediately got rid of everything that did not fit me, whether it was a great Michael Kors dress or an old pair of Hanes boxer shorts that I used to sleep in. And from there, I began building my closet slowly, from near-scratch.

I bought clothes that hugged my curves well, in the appropriate places (and sizes). I chose fitted styles over shifts. I chose high-waisted pants and mid-rises over low-rises. I embraced V-necks instead of boatnecks. I got amazing undergarments that made me feel good about my body, each layer of it.

Slowly but surely, my mornings were smoother. I spent a lot less time tossing clothes on the floor. I chose one outfit that fit me well, that I felt confident in, that I loved again. Not a size 2, perhaps, but a size Me. At that very moment. In this very stage of my life.

You probably have too many clothes in your closet that don’t fit just right, too. Let me suggest a cleanse. Take a day. Take a weekend. Go through every item. Try on questionable garments, toss out everything that you don’t feel amazing in. I promise that walking into your closet and picking among options that all fit like a glove will change your day-to-day life.

One of the first things you do every single morning is get dressed. If you have to try on two or three pieces that don’t fit quite right to find one that does, it’ll affect your mood for the rest of the day. It’s a psychological trap that I don’t want you to fall into — because, for months, I did.

Aim for healthy, always, and then comfort. But you are beautiful at the size you are today. If that size or shape changes later on, great. That is normal and natural. But today, set yourself up to be as happy as you can in your own skin. See if the secret might not lie in a quick closet makeover — and once you’ve streamlined and pared down, treat yourself to a new dress or pair of pants (with the perfect fit) to start the final phase of your wardrobe renovation.

Lookin’ good, feelin’ good — and a little shopping. Not a bad prescription, right?

If you’ve been hurt by someone you love then you might not be feeling so grateful as you move into the Thanksgiving holiday this week. It’s normal to close your heart as a protection mechanism against further pain, but a closed heart makes it much harder to see the things or people in your life that are good. Heartbreak works kind of like a general anesthetic in that it colors your perspective of everything including aspects of your life that are not connected to your current suffering. This is why the world seems darker and less beautiful than when you’re feeling deeply loved, supported and connected.
The good news is that you don’t have to feel grateful to practice gratitude. In fact, experts believe that it’s the repeated practice of gratitude–even when we don’t feel grateful–that will eventually lead to a more enduring attitude of gratitude.
Gratitude, stemming from the Latin word gratia, means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness. The practice of gratitude has been linked to happiness, better relationships, improved mental and physical health, and more resilience. Gratitude is no longer a simple act of thanks, and it isn’t just a theory or practice. Research has shown that grateful brains show enhanced activity in two primary regions: the anterior cingulate cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex. These areas have been previously associated with emotional processing, interpersonal bonding and rewarding social interactions, moral judgment, and the ability to understand the mental states of others. We now know that gratitude is much more than a quick fix, but a complex social emotion that involves morality, connecting with others, and taking their perspective.
If you’re facing your first holiday as a newly divorced person, without a parent, in a new town or in the midst of a challenging issue you’re not alone. The immediate culture and media would have you believe that everything is perfect because this is what most of the population wants to believe. In the aftermath of the Paris bombings, we know that the world is much bigger than the one we often experience in our daily lives, and you can keep this in mind as you manage the onslaught of forced “goodness” coming at you from your external environment. People may tell you to focus on what you have as a way to help you, but we can confirm that doing just that isn’t enough.
Even though you are struggling through this holiday season, being miserable doesn’t have to be a given. Heartbreak doesn’t need to create a barrier between you and the benefits of gratitude so drawing on the work of scientific researcher Robert Emmons, here are a few ways to generate a sense of gratitude when the desire isn’t there.

Go Through the Motions.

If you go through grateful motions, the emotion of gratitude should be triggered. Grateful motions include smiling, saying thank you, and writing letters of gratitude. This might be easier to put into practice with people you don’t know, or in casual settings like your local coffee shop or at your gym.

Pick One Thing.

Research shows that writing one sentence about five things you’re grateful for is less beneficial than writing five sentences about one thing you’re grateful for. Pick one thing you can feel grateful for and expand on that by listing why you’re grateful.

Consider a Non-Human.

Finding gratitude for a pet, a plant, or the greater natural environment eases the struggle of finding gratitude for a person. Our non-human counterparts are amazing healers of the heart so practicing gratitude with your furry friends or your natural companions will bring you powerful benefits.

Remember the Bad.

To be grateful in your current state, it is helpful to remember the hard times that you once experienced. When you remember how difficult life used to be and how far you have come, you set up an explicit contrast in your mind, and this contrast is fertile ground for gratefulness.

Come to Your Senses.

Through our senses–the ability to touch, see, smell, taste, and hear–we gain an appreciation of what it means to be human and of what an incredible miracle it is to be alive. Seen through the lens of gratitude, the human body is not only a miraculous construction but also a gift. Most of all remember that you’re not alone in how you feel. Millions of people will be “surviving” the holiday as opposed to enjoying it, and for many others the meaning of the holiday will need to be readjusted to accommodate the current state of affairs. Use this time as an opportunity for personal exploration, and create your own meaning in any way that feels right for you.

I recently had a session with a client who lives in a remote town with a very small population. She reached out to discuss her marriage and other issues she is struggling with, but by the end of the session we had uncovered something very different and much more poignant. She told me that she feels explosively angry a lot of the time, and described her experience in this small town as “living in a fish bowl”. She expressed feeling a disconnection from the greater world as both healing and frustrating, and every time she reads the paper to stay globally informed her heart breaks, and she cries over what she learns. She then described how she immediately shuts down her response because “it’s so ridiculous to be upset about something so far from her world”.

As an Ecotherapist, my ears immediately perked up, and I knew I was dealing with something well beyond marital problems and issues of stress. This client’s mental health was clearly being affected by the horrors that happen in the world every day, and her inability to legitimize her heartbreak was creating even more suffering.

There are many human beings who are profoundly saddened by the state of our world. Whether it’s the recent bombings in Paris, the devastation of our environment, the pollution in our waters, or the complete demise of whole animal populations, the pain is felt. For others, there is an unidentified dis-ease and a general sense of anxiety that is kept at bay to avoid overwhelm and despair. In truth, we are witnessing the unraveling of climate stability, as well as the ongoing threat to our safety both from the environment and our own species. Whether we know it consciously or unconsciously, we are ill-equipped to deal with the traumas of our time.

In February of 2014, the National Wildlife Federation released a report entitled “The Psychological Effects of Global Warming on the United States: And Why the U.S. Mental Health System is Not Adequately Prepared”. The report stated that 200 million Americans will suffer “serious psychological distress” as a direct result of climate change events. The American Psychological Association also released a report on the interface between Psychology and global climate change which states that “heat, extreme weather events, and increased competition for scarce environmental resources–compounded by preexisting inequalities and disproportionate impacts among groups and nations–will affect interpersonal and intergroup behavior and may result in increased stress and anxiety.”

We know from research that the natural environment can heal what ails us on many levels, but we have yet to comprehend how the demise of that same environment is making us ill. Research supports the claim that a lack of nature correlates with poor mental health, but it seems that the ever-impended environmental crisis affects us just as powerfully. Should we be treating this as a mental health crisis, or can we sustain our mental wellbeing in spite of what is happening all around us?

Pros and Cons

There are several benefits to assessing and treating symptoms that are related to the environmental crisis. Providing a space for discussion about these issues is not only healing for the individual, but it greatly benefits the earth as well. When people feel empowered in their feelings about the environment they are more likely to use those feelings as a motivating force of change. In this case, that can lead to activism and better sustainability in their own lives as they relate to the environment. Addressing issues that surface around the environmental crisis also reduces feelings of despair and hopelessness. Joanna Macy’s book “Active Hope” says that the pain of the world is normal, healthy and widespread. By normalizing and validating feelings around these issues, we give meaning to our emotional responses and generate a deeper sense of connection to the earth and other people sharing in the plight. There really is no downside to treating the environmental crisis as a health crisis. While we don’t want to manufacture symptoms or over-exaggerate a person’s struggle with these issues, it’s essential to always hold in mind that these feelings are possible and very real even if they don’t present as exactly what they are.

Fit or Flop

Treating the environmental crisis as a health crisis is definitely a fit. Although most people may not be associating their mental health issues with the state of the environment, we have to consider that it plays a role. Looking at feelings of grief, anxiety, stress and sadness with a broader lens that includes the ill health of the earth can only benefit both the public and the mental health industry as a whole. Honoring and respecting the difficult emotions a person feels around these issues validates the crisis at hand making it a real issue that cannot be minimized.