Burnout risk for climate change activists suffering 'hopelessness' and 'despair'
For Zane Crofts , the environment wasnt always at the forefront of his mind. Growing up in a lower-income area of Christchurch, his dream was to create a bogan paradise. Multiple vehicles compacted the soil below the tyres on his garden when he first bought his home five years ago. When a friend who studied sociology opened his eyes to the worlds political, environmental and societal issues, Crofts decided something needed to change. And change came fast. READ MORE: * Burnout: How to unwind in time for Christmas * 'It felt like doomsday': How a community garden is helping tackle climate change * School Strike 4 Climate Auckland declares itself racist and disbands A community veggie garden began to grow in the place of the once garden converted car park , all animal products went out the door, and the household was to be zero waste. I read lots of stuff about gardening and I wanted to know everything I could about climate change, Crofts says. I wanted to find solutions. He joined groups with others who shared the same passion, but the honeymoon period of learning, connecting and feeling motivated lasted about a year, he says. I wouldnt take no for an answer and that mentally allowed me to get through a lot of trauma in my life - keep persevering. But that strength eventually became my biggest weakness, cause I just wouldnt stop; searching for answers, trying to build stuff. I took on way too much and I just felt like I was in this big war. Crofts felt as though he needed to convince everybody else to get on board, frustrated that many wouldnt listen, feeling alienated, angry and pessimistic. It started off good but by the end, I just felt like my life was ruined, I just couldnt handle how dark the world got. Co-director of the Workshop Jess Berentson-Shaw believes individually focused action and a sense of individual responsibility is the biggest downfall of climate change action. Predominantly rooted in Western thinking, Berentson-Shaw says we have a very individualised way of thinking about climate change, so we tend to think first as individuals and second as collectives, even though it is clear it is a collective problem. If the rhetoric stays at the individual level, there becomes this real dissonance for people between knowing change has to happen on a large scale, but not seeing that happening, she says. You can keep engaging at the individual level and it is important, but if you see no action happening at the right level then people do lose hope, and then they burn out. The American Psychological Association describes burnout as physical, mental, or emotional exhaustion coupled with a lack of motivation, and negative attitudes towards themselves and others. It was often a result of high levels of stress and tension, particularly from extreme and prolonged physical or mental exertion or an overburdening workload. NZ Psychological Society director Brian Dixon said burnout could be experienced by people who are active in addressing climate change caused by frustration and exhaustion by seeing little change despite their efforts. Clinical psychologists and counsellors reported an increase in people who have identified climate change as a cause for feelings of hopelessness, doubts about their future and despair, Dixon said. For Martyn Sinkinson, owner of a naturally grown food farm in Albert Town, Wanaka, burnout was something he continually struggled with. He has run Wanaka Willows for about four years after he spent time working as an Outward Bound instructor, living in various parts of Aotearoa. Originally from Manchester in the UK, Sinkinson says he felt passionate about protecting the environment and natural resources for as long as he could remember. I was in school learning about oil, and it just felt wrong. Its a feeling, you could say, knowing from a very early age that burning all this fuel, taking out the earth cannot be good. You cant replace it. For years, he dreamt of leaving Manchester, producing his own food and trying to be self-sufficient. He bought a 1.5 acre wasteland in Wanaka, which he was told couldnt be built on, and turned a quarter of an acre into an organic veggie farm, supplying vegetable boxes to the community using no fossil fuels and chemicals. His food farm was about growing seasonal, nutritional food and therefore respecting people and respecting the land. However, despite always knowing it would be hard work, the reality exceeded his expectations. Part of the problem, he says, was his childhood mentality, of being trained to just go, go and go. It became natural to push himself, and it was now something he wanted to learn how to undo. Association of Counsellors president Christine Macfarlane said people often internalised the magnitude of issues surrounding climate change, leading to a sense of hopelessness. Theres an expectation of myself internally, but also externally, that you continue on this road... It feels like if I stop or let go, then who's going to pick it up? So that over responsibility can keep people going and going, Macfarlane said. She saw a lack of community support, when interconnection with others was vital to making a difference. After working tirelessly last year, the farm brought in $60,000 but Sinkinson only took away $25,000. His vegetables were sold at market price to make them accessible, but his earnings werent enough for him to buy his own food. I need a bit of a life, I need that balance, and Ive just not got that balance - I cant have, if I did have, things are going to die. Right now I just feel like Ive screwed it, Ive just not got a life. Sinkinson says he cant help feeling frustrated when he sees other people not trying. I try not to let it bother me, but it definitely does... I just cant join in with sticking my head in the sand, I cant do that. I try not to look at other people but just do the best I can. He hoped to one day run a bigger farm with better financial support and pass on knowledge to a younger generation. When I go out on my deathbed, Ill hopefully be able to say I did the best I could. Berentson-Shaw said people often had a misconception that others did not care about climate change, but her research showed people do care, they just dont know what to do. Another issue she recognised was that engaging in climate action wasnt made easy or accessible. It shouldnt be this massive effort for people. Crofts put his burnout down to a number of things, including the overwhelming magnitude and urgency of climate change, and, similarly to Sinkinson, the inability to stop. Once he started his own projects, including a community vegetable garden, past traumas began to feed on his stress and urgency, including a fear of failure which kept him from stopping. My whole identity became doing permaculture, he said. Id invested all my money, my whole lifestyle, giving up all the cars... I just didnt feel like there was any other way than just pushing forward. A PhD student researching climate anxiety at the University of Tasmania, Gabrielle Feather, said experiencing burnout as a result of environmental activism was something that was becoming increasingly common. Having suffered burnout herself, she said her research showed people already predisposed to anxiety and depression were also more likely to experience burnout. Those who showed less psychological flexibility were also more likely to be impaired by their thoughts and feelings about climate change, Feather said. Crofts said some people also held quite extremist mindsets around environmentalism. They were unforgiving of people who didnt adopt a sustainable lifestyle. He became hard on himself, feeling as though if he didnt live that way, he was the bad guy. Coming from a lower-income, rough background, Crofts said he understood climate action was not that simple for some people. That led to a drive to provide his community with organic food, and eventually it got to a point where he was crushed and feeling pretty dead inside. When youre very passionate about something, you want to see it succeed... You get emotional, you care about something, you see the possibilities. I tried to turn it off, I cant. Despite not fully recovering from his burnout, Crofts said part of managing it was focusing on the smaller scale, including grassroots initiatives, and accepting that its enough. I dont know what the outcome is going to be, but if I keep thinking on a global scale, Im just going to hide under a rock for the rest of my life. He took on one of the most important permaculture principles , which is small and slow solutions, because too much change too fast was not always sustainable. Expecting quick change could be due to what Macfarlane referred to as our instant gratification culture. It was about accepting areas in his life that may not be 100 per cent eco-friendly, but being able to continue doing what he was passionate about in a healthier mindset. For me, I stopped enjoying life, I stopped enjoying gardening, I was just doing it for the mission by the end of it. Not wanting to let people down, not wanting to be excluded from my tribe. I ended up down the deepest part of the rabbit hole, I think. He believed human wellbeing was just as important as being environmentally sustainable and understanding that change was a process, and not instant, was vital. A whole bunch of burnt-out people getting depressed and giving up isnt going to benefit anything. He said he tried to remind himself not to take things too seriously and enjoy the marvels of life. Berentson-Shaw said individual action was a good thing but it was important not to forgetthose with power had the ability to initiate action on a larger scale. You can do so much and try so hard and still feel like its not enough because the rhetoric and the mindsets around this being an individual problem and solution are so strong. Research showed seeing action at a local body, national, or global scale, gave people more hope and acted as a key for engagement. This is a collective problem, and unless weve got a collective to solve it, its hard to see a way out of it. To read about three young Kiwis experience of climate anxiety, click here . Here you can read how some young Kiwis counter the effect climate change has on their mental wellbeing, and offer advice to other people dealing with anxiety, grief or despair linked to the climate crisis.