When it comes to talking about environmental concerns and threats to our planet I do my fair share here on this blog and in my personal life. But how does that make you feel? Does it make you anxious? Are you losing sleep?
Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before a “new” eco-service would hit the market to address this…enter eco-therapy. If all this talk about global warming, deforestation, chemicals in your food, etc. are making you anxious you can get help.
Melissa Pickett, an eco-therapist with a practice in Santa Fe, says she sees between 40 to 80 eco-anxious patients a month.
They complain of panic attacks, loss of appetite, irritability and unexplained bouts of weakness, sleeplessness and “buzzing,” described as an eerie feeling that their cells are twitching. Pickett’s remedies include telling patients to carry natural objects, like certain minerals, for a period of weeks. Making environmentally friendly lifestyle changes can also prove therapeutic, she says.
The fears of the eco-anxious are fueled by abundant media coverage of crises like global warming, collapsed fisheries and food shortages.
Personally all of the environmental problems that we currently face make me more angry and motivated than anything else but if it goes beyond that someday I guess I know where to turn.
