FERNWOOD FITNESS - PULSE eMagazine - Issue#7 - Flipbook - Page 51
Humans tend to avoid di昀케cult emo琀椀ons. We
live in a world where hard emo琀椀ons are rarely
discussed, especially in public. We prefer to
show posi琀椀vity, stoicism, and a sense of calm
and control. And in doing so, we feel our
pain in isola琀椀on. This tendency is par琀椀cularly
evident with climate emo琀椀ons. We do not talk
about them. We feel as if our distress is invalid.
We ques琀椀on whether there is something
wrong with us for feeling what we feel.
Clinical Psychologist and founder of The
Climate Mobiliza琀椀on, Dr Margaret Klein
Salamon likens this phenomenon to a 昀椀re drill
in the workplace. When a 昀椀re alarm goes o昀昀
at work, the 昀椀rst thing we do is look for others
to see how they are responding. We especially
look to our leaders. If they are not reac琀椀ng,
we assume it is ok. If they are moving quickly,
looking alarmed, and are calling us to ac琀椀on
then we too become alarmed. When we feel
climate fear we look to others; our leaders, our
neighbours, our friends and family, and our
community to see how they are responding.
What we see is everyone else behaving
normally. So we too keep our distress quiet,
accentua琀椀ng our feeling of isola琀椀on.
Despite the rela琀椀ve silence of climate distress,
research shows this is a deeply shared
experience. In a 2021 global study of 16,254
people, a staggering 72 percent of respondents
stated they were “somewhat worried” or
“very worried” that climate change would
impact them personally. More recent research
conducted in Australia in 2022 revealed 83%
of respondents are concerned about climate
change, and 70% consider that Australia is
already being a昀昀ected by climate change.
Remember,if this is this how
you feel, you’re not alone.