Climate Conversations 6th April 2023
Panu Pihkala has created a diagram of the broad process of encountering eco-anxiety and ecological grief. The different phases, features and possible experiences come from an analysis of existing research and popular books on the subject. He says being able to visualise the process may help people to reflect on their own response and to better understand other people’s. The diagram is intended to be simple enough, but also nuanced as research on grief shows that there is complexity and fluctuation . Because it describes the general process it won’t represent all our individual experiences exactly, but we hope we might be able to use it as a group, to give us a kind of map or structure.
Stick Person’s story
To get the hang of what’s going on in the diagram we’re going to follow the journey of our Stick Person, starting from the time when they knew nothing about the climate crisis. We’ll look at what could happen as they progress through each phase, the different possible routes they could take on their journey, and the influences and constraints that affect which path is taken.
The first phase is Unknowing. Living nowadays it’s likely this phase was very short. And Stick Person probably can’t remember when they first learned about the climate crisis.
At some point Stick Person has learnt that ecological crisis exists. Children can hear about it from the media and other places from a very young age. They are now in the next phase called Semi consciousness. Although they kind of know about the ecological crisis they also try not to know fully, avoiding the full realisation of what that means. The truth of what’s happening is hard to face. They may experience dissonance -the discomfort of trying to hold on to two opposing or conflicting ideas at the same time. They may already be experiencing eco-anxiety, perhaps in a vague way. It’s very hard to block out all the news about what’s happening and anxiety is a warning that something is wrong. They might do some environmentally friendly actions, but probably just stick to what’s expected or required.
Awakening happens when something breaks through our defences, and the full realisation of what’s happening can’t be avoided, even for a short time. It can come about in different ways. It might come about suddenly, like an epiphany, caused by watching Frozen Planet, or a catastrophe on the news. It might be seeing something they find morally unacceptable – like the consequences of climate change for a community. Or it might be a slow burn as evidence mounts over time. Our Stick Person might respond by trying to repress what they’ve learnt, with various kinds of denial. They back off from something that is too frightening. Possibly even into complete denial, refusing to believe the climate crisis is real. But because they can’t completely undo their Awakening about the climate crisis their dissonance might become even stronger.
Shock can take different forms. The sense of shock isn’t necessarily literal shock. But it is certainly an upheaval. A person’s life experiences, makes a difference to how they experience this phase. It can be influenced by their character, how easily they feel empathy for example, or how connected they feel to nature. The feelings they experience as part of the shock can vary. They may feel disorientation and absurdity as normal life seems to go on as normal around them. Stick Person might feel isolated or lonely if they don’t have a lot of social support around them. Their sense of security and continuity is threatened as fundamental assumptions about the world are shattered. Things that seemed to be permanent reliable features of the world are now at risk. It can be a challenge to take this news in and to hold on to it.
How people initially respond to Shock also varies. Our Stick Person might move rapidly into action. They might get depressed or very anxious. Alternatively, they may try to distance themselves from the crisis with avoidance or denial. There isn’t one path, and the way they go after Shock may depend on whether they consciously accept the crisis and try to engage with it, or mainly go for distancing from it.
Coping and changing is the phase we’re probably most interested in. It’s a complicated phase. There’s no right way to move through it. People move from Shock to Coping and Changing when they start to grapple with how to cope. A person’s social context will make a lot of difference to what happens here as will power dynamics. The degree of stress and trauma experienced plays a part. People can try and cope in different ways. For example, anxiety might produce manic activity that leads to burnout. Strong trauma might lead to extreme distancing, even resulting in forms of denial. Which area people turn to first can depend on their previous life experiences. Trying to cope can be difficult. Strong anxiety and depression are possibilities and how long people stay there varies. So, the order in which people visit the different areas varies, and the length of time varies. It’s possible to get into loops, for example bouncing between anxiety and Distancing. The different ‘tasks’ might be tackled deliberately or instinctively, consciously or unconsciously.
Pihkala says that it is important that people address all three areas. We need some distancing as well as Action and Grieving. We all need time to engage with our emotions and to allow ourselves to feel grief and sadness, and the other emotions that come up. We also need time away to rest and relax. And it’s important to engage in Action – in whatever way is possible for us.
Adjustment and transformation comes about as a result in engaging with the tasks of coping and changing. Our Stick Person has changed as a result of going through this process. Their values and beliefs are different. They have more resilience and more flexibility. This happens over time. One day they noticed that the change had occurred. This phase isn’t something completely different. Instead, they now have more balance in their life, and more awareness of their responses, and how it changes in intensity. They are more aware of environmental issues too. Avoidance is more deliberate and more centred on self-care. Again, people’s context is very important. Not everyone has the same opportunities or ability to take particular forms of Action for example. Grief still happens but there’s more room for other emotions like guilt and anger, but also including joy and healthy contentment, now the major tasks of grieving are completed.
How we can use this diagram in our group?
- To tell our stories including the specific experiences and influences that are part of our personal story.
- To make the process feel more manageable.
- To give us a sense of direction and a realistic outcome to work towards.
- Together we can investigate what the different coping ‘tasks’ might be and support each other.
- We can think about the influences on the process and how to address them including the big difficult stuff like our culture, privilege and capitalism. How do we remind ourselves to think about these influences when they aren’t shown on the diagram?
Sources
Panu Pihkala, The Process of Eco-Anxiety and Ecological Grief: A Narrative Review and a New Proposal published in 2022 in Sustainability 14, no. 24: 16628.
The diagram of the process comes from this research paper. The story of Stick Man’s journey is based closely on Panu Pihkala’s description of the process of learning about the climate crisis, and then responding. This article was written for other academics so it isn’t that easy to read. The blog post below will give you a good understanding without the academic language.
Britt Wray, ‘How to take breaks from the climate crisis without living in denial. A conversation with Dr. Panu Pihkala’ on her blog Gen Dread
Britt Wray talks to Dr Pihkala about how people might be able to use the diagram to think about their own responses to the climate crisis, and when talking to other people. This is much easier to read than the article above.