Ok, here's a new one from some of the wackier climate change deniers – climate change is all a conspiracy in order to make people depressed so that they go to shrinks, buy antidepressants and commit suicide. Either that, or they say that we all have to stop talking about climate change because it can make people depressed. This is partially based on reports of what the medial health profession is calling "climate change delusion", where someone tries to commit suicide and lists fears about climate change as one of their reasons.
Speaking as someone who has suffered from endogenous recurring depression since the womb and a survivor of more suicide attempts than I care to remember, I can say without hesitation that this is poppycock. On the contrary, worrying about climate change can actually be good for your mental health, even to depressives like me.
Depression Encourages Isolation
When you are in the grips of depression, everything is hopeless. Life is hopeless, death is hopeless (because somehow you'll screw it up), and individual effort is hopeless so let's stay in bed. You also do not want to see anybody or communicate with anyone in any way. You are stuck in this tornado of hopelessness inside of your own head and you cannot see any way out.
But learning about and worrying about something other than yourself is a great way for a depressive to break out of this perpetual cycle of misery. You start to think about something other than your own misery. You worry about someone else – whether it's a species, a place or the entire planet. This worry actually gets you out of your head.
Retrain The Brain
Empathy for others is almost a shock to the depressive's brain. It helps give you a perspective and some energy to learn about the thing that's worrying you. And then you can find a motivation to get out of bed and get some help for your depression so you can go out and do your part to change the world.
Of course, this article should not be used as a substitute for a doctor or therapist's diagnosis. Environmental activism (or any kind of activism, for that matter) will not alone ease depression symptoms. But it can help retrain a depressive's internal thoughts so that they can see that not everything is hopeless. I've been on Prozac since 2003 and probably will have to continue taking it until I die. But the chance for the pills to work got much better once I could calm down and see that even small efforts (walking instead of driving, eating less meat, recycling, reusing as much stuff as possible) produce tangible results – which means that even small efforts help reduce those feelings of hopelessness.
Because for anyone with depression, there's always something to worry about. We don’t need climate change as an excuse for that.
Microcosm, Macrocosm
There's a theory that changes that happen in a small area affect the greater environment. This is based on the similarities between the worlds of the very tiny (the microcosm) and the very large (the macrocosm). So, even though major depression makes you thoroughly believe that your individual efforts are useless, this is wrong.
Individual efforts do make a difference. Just clean up the litter on your street. Turn around and right away, you can see the tangible results of your effort and see your own positive contributions. That's why working against climate change is good not only for the world but also for your mental health.
