Climate Crisis Is A Mental Health Crisis: Why We Need Second-Order Solutions
Posted by IntrepidRatio7473@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 16 comments
Posted by IntrepidRatio7473@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 16 comments
Grand-Page-1180@reddit
If we were an intelligent species, we would end capitalism, pool the world's resources together and just start providing enough for people. There's no future in the current status quo. Tired of feeling like I'm running on a hamster wheel on a sinking ship.
ZenApe@reddit
You mean people are sad and scared because the world is dying and there's no way out?
Ain't that something.
CorvidCorbeau@reddit
It's not just that. There was some research on this posted recently. They found that climate anxiety makes people perceive time faster. Which I suppose explains why any time we see a timeline, it seems like it is not fast enough
extinction6@reddit
"Those who go beyond first-order solutions will not only save generations to come from the ravages of climate change" Well......... Ya Never Know!................Ya Never Know!!
Vdasun-8412@reddit
Collapse is when the heat wave causes my blood vessels to dilate and I get a headache.
Rossdxvx@reddit
I imagine that this will be a destabilizing crisis across the board. Not just mental health, but everything... the very foundation and fabric of human society will be continually shifting and chaotic going forward.
IntrepidRatio7473@reddit (OP)
I agree and it will be hitting at a time when we have lost our ability to think philosphically plus a flexible and critical mindset to cope through crisis. We are at a stage where any crisis leads to polarisation and encampment with each group holding diametrically opposite views on how to solve it or even worse - argue that it's not a crisis at all.
f1shtac000s@reddit
Who is "we"? For me personally it's largely been philosophy that has helped me keep a reasonably level head through this and learn skills to help navigate it.
If "we" is the general public, then I can assure you they've never been a particularly philosophical bunch. Nietzsche pretty much nailed the mental state of the average person today with his description of the "last man".
A particularly good intro for people that haven't spent much time would be Nolen Gertz's Nihilism. This covers a philosophical understanding of nihilism (which, btw, is not that "life has no meaning", which is assumed, but how we react to that reality). It's fantastic for understanding the rise of MAGA and many other breakdowns we are witnessing is people are really having existential challenges thrust upon them by being forced to reckon with collapse.
I've pointed out before but there is nothing fundamental about collapse that changes what was already true about our state of existence, it just forces us to remind the usual blinders we have on to avoid uncomfortable things. Collapse scares people because they thing "I will lose everything and nothing I do matters", but guess what? That was always the case.
If anything philosophy has become essential today for anyone with any interesting in surviving. The mental collapse will crush you long before the material.
MrAutumnMan@reddit
That's also why this is happening.
Rossdxvx@reddit
Polarization and tribalism are just one aspect of our descent. I think things are just going to disintegrate completely. It is hard to plan for a future that isn't there. And once people fully realize the implications of collapse, it will be hard to firmly plant our feet onto any sort of ground. Human beings had the benefit of evolving with stability, which is gone forever now. No one realizes just how monumental this all is.
I don't like to predict the future, but the future could not be more up in the air and unpredictable now… whether we even survive or not.
The real monsters have yet to come out.
Isaiah_The_Bun@reddit
precisely. it will unravel bit by bit and almost everyone will fight to the death to keep it going.
good luck
ampliora@reddit
Maybe collapse will drive most the population mad before the real environmental devastation kicks in. It has to drive everyone somewhat crazy eventually.
Ok-Restaurant4870@reddit
Just look at collapse support.
This use to be always at the back of my mind. Now it’s been at the fucking forefront for years. Hard to ignore at this point.
BlackMassSmoker@reddit
Not just climate change. I think it's also that we exist in a machine that dehumanizes us.
I'm consistently seeing across all age groups people in despair because 'the system' is not working for them anymore. Food is getting more expensive, rents are always getting higher, your job feels meaningless and doesn't pay enough - and yet you're the 'lucky' one because loads of people simply can't get hired.
I'm getting more convinced that shit will hit the fan before we even see the worst of climate change - although I do think climate change is an accelerator for all our problems.
Lets say, hypothetically, we have an economic crash in the next three years. Governments once again uses tax payers money to bail out whatever industry crashed. They use QE and start printing money but you're told, again, you're going to have tighten your belt and sacrifice. At this point too many people are on the knife edge of survival to handle a systemic shock like this. And I'm just making a comparison to 2008. The next crash could be far worse - as in economic collapse. I wonder if the people that have always bought into to system - the ones that roll their eyes at you if you complain at the emptiness of all this and tell you to 'work harder' - will be able to convince themselves that everything is fine if and when this happens.
I guess my overall point is the world many of us live in robs us of beauty and meaning and goes beyond climate change and future fears. Right now our society is profoundly sick and miserable.
StatementBot@reddit
The following submission statement was provided by /u/IntrepidRatio7473:
This article states how climate change crisis also exacerbates the mental health crisis. It highlights how countries that are unable to invest in health care services today are the ones who are going to bear the biggest cost owing from mental health collapse.
The article also outlines a few second order changes that involves building community led reresilience programs. Part of this involves connecting with nature.
My cynical-self views this as a profound mindset shift . If we were ever capable of making such a change , we wouldn't be in this position in the first place. And I am highly sceptical if we can make this leap.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1o56zfr/climate_crisis_is_a_mental_health_crisis_why_we/nj7dlx2/
IntrepidRatio7473@reddit (OP)
This article states how climate change crisis also exacerbates the mental health crisis. It highlights how countries that are unable to invest into health care services today are the ones who are going to bear the biggest cost owing from mental health collapse.
The article also outlines a few second order changes that involves building community led reresilience programs part of which involves connecting with nature.
My cynical self views this as a profound mindset shift . If we were ever capable to make such a change , we wouldn't be in this position anyway. And I am highly sceptical if we can make this leap.