Worrying about the environment is turning me into a mess

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Sometimes I get mad at myself for being just like 99 percent of the population and having a negative impact on the planet just like anyone else in modern society, and then I tell myself I should go to jail because I do seemingly innocent things that are actually not okay from an environmental perspective.

I feel the need to go vegetarian even though I have mental health-related reasons why it’s not the best idea, including all or nothing thinking and ED history. I told myself it would be best to go “flexitarian” and eat meat occasionally, but now I’m mad at myself for not going vegan.

Sometimes I freak out so much about the planet that it upsets my parents.

This is ridiculous. It’s good to care about the planet, but it’s not good to let it affect you negatively.

Everyone has a carbon footprint

It costs $$$ to keep someone in jail

If ninety nine percent of the population were in jail, one percent of the population has to pay for it

All things equal, being a vegetarian is better for the environment than otherwise

But vegetarians still pollute

Living things have to hurt other living things to continue living

Thank you! Seeing the world from an extreme environmental perspective, to the point of thinking you're bad because you're a human and humans kill the planet, is not a mental health diagnosis, but I think it should be. I looked up eco-anxiety and I read about carrying a piece of nature with me, so I carry a pine twig. I keep forgetting mine, though...starting new habits is hard.

People don't know my pine twig is a mental health thing. They just think it's cute.

I wonder if the anxiety your experiencing is a form of OCD. OCD treatment might help if it is weather it's counseling &/or medication

It looks like anxiety and too much unprocessed guilt. Do you have a history of being excessively guilt-tripped?
Counselling is likely to help.

Don't be too concerned. One large volcano erupting gives more polution then all the earths population gives out. Volcanos are the largest source of pollution the earth has ever known and the eargh has always coped with them. The enviroment is self cleaning. The seas are an amazing self cleaning mechanism with salt which purifies. The air is also self cleaning.

I feel a sense of guilt with every piece of plastic I use/ throw away(many plastic items are recyclable). I sometimes visualize a mountain of garbage I have created over my lifetime and again am overwhelmed by guilt.

No one has guilt tripped me, it is just my own conscience.

It's too big for any one person, beating yourself over it and despairing doesn't help. I however have the same problem though I don't go as far as thinking I should go to jail, but my point is I'm not judging you for it as I have a hard time not letting the environment issues get to me.

You can work to reduce your personal foot-print as best you can, but remember no one is perfect and its too big an issue for the average person to fix on their own.

Also VOTE, not just in the big presidential election but the smaller state elections where you vote for candidates for state offices and state legislation. Chances are there is environmental legislation that shows up that you can vote for, and you can research candidates to vote for the ones who support for environmental regulations and support wildlife/habitat conservation.

Also sign petitions in regards to these issues, not all are effective or do anything but...i mean cannabis was legalized in colorado, due to a petition to the state government to put it on the ballot, so clearly petitions can work.

If you can donate some to organizations that are working to address environmental issues and raise awareness.


Seriously though the climate change threat is real, it should be making everyone nervous. If humanity doesn't address it we're screwed as a species. But pressure needs to be put on politicians and corporations, people using reusable bags and bringing their own reusable cup for fountain drinks isn't enough. So you are not wrong to be worried about it.

I am not so sure science supports all that...200+ scientists wouldn't be saying 'be concerned' if there wasn't anything to be concerned about.

Great posts Sweetleaf Those are excellent points & steps we can take. Sometimes taking action or steps or something can help reduce anxiety(it does for me sometimes) but that sometimes leads to being obsessed about the action or steps we're taking(that sometimes happens to me too). I still generally think it's better to try & do something to reduce anxiety as long as what we're doing is practical.

One step I at least cannot take though, is sometimes with petitions and environmentally friendly organizations they encourage supporters to call in to politicians and sometimes companies to state that they support a certain change. Like calling nestle to demand they reduce their plastic packaging or things like that. I would like to, but I have a problem with phone anxiety...so yeah apparently that is a thing you can do if you don't have the sort of phone anxiety I do.

Its stupid to, like I know how phones work but it still never fails to make me nervous. Its hard enough getting on the phone for things i need to like talking to my voc rehab counseler or the person from the employment help place helping set me up with a job. I mean I had the issue since forever, but I think one incident made it worse....when I was like 11 I was home alone, sick and just watching t.v. Then some lady called and was asking about maybe the previous people who lived there....and she was like demanding to know about them. I think I may have said I was just a kid answering the phone and the people she was asking about don't live here. Then she like accused me of some things and was yelling at me so eventually I just hung up...but I already had phone anxiety before that, so that experience didn't help. Anyways not trying to derail my own comment...but I guess calling politicians and companies is also an action some people can take, but my phone anxiety kind of makes it impossible for me.