Global Crisis & Climate Change Anxiety, Climate Grief, Eco-Anxiety Counselling London & Online
Social Dysfunction & Impact Of World Events Not only do we affect the external world, but the external world impacts on us, individually through our mental health, where the unstable world can affect our own stability. Alongside uncertainty we can experience existential loneliness, alienation, be part of a collective, universal sadness. Interrelated events in the world can be experienced as undergoing a critical and unpredictable phase, symptomised through climate change, environmental breakdown. The term "polycrisis" (coined by French philosopher Edgar Morin) refers to multiple, interconnected complex situations, which amplify each other impacting upon global crises. Alongside climate change, the impact of wars, migration, artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, genetic engineering, pandemics can be considered part of the polycrisis we are in. It is argued that other factors contribute to major world events, environmental breakdown, global crisis, including:
- Political crisis, unsustainable political systems - the way we treat the planet, traditional left and right politics
- Social injustice, collective , narcissism and individualism, which harms other people and the planet, and is out of tune with community, the wider world, interdependence, interconnectedness
- Populism, excessive pride
- Narcissism ≈ emphasis on individualism
- Authoritarian leaders
- Dominant voices, which exclude marginalised others (e.g. through intersectionality)
- Power imbalance, resulting in separation, alienation from the world dominant forces
- Economic systems no longer fit for purpose (e.g. GDP is at the cost of overlooking wellbeing, there is a globalised interconnected financial system, yet not an interconnected, coherent globalised response to climate change - which doesn't recognise borders, selfish, national interests)
- We may have views on man's commodification of land - land grabbing, land buyoffs leading to people's dispossession, where corporate policy-makers ensure global food prices are subject to stock market fluctuations
- Polarisation - thinking in absolutes
- Rampant consumerism & the downside of capitalism, neoliberalism
- Dysfunctional money management, fractional reserve banking - loaning money that doesn't exist, qualitative easing - the artificial printing of money, money obsession, individual & collective greed, financial wealth preoccupation
- Big business is not always on-board, because climate crisis is not just another business opportunity
- How technological forces are reshaping social cohesion (e.g. bias unregulated algorithms)
- Short-termism & lack of immediate & long term, sustainable action
- Living in the world of half-truths, distorted, manipulative reporting (e.g. carbon offsetting can look impressive only on paper, camouflaging meaningless, placatory soundbite targets, which are modest and ineffective decades ahead, distorting statistics, countries and companies try to show carbon neutral they are and what a great job they are doing, yet meanwhile the planet speaks a different language and there is a disconnection between the two)
Contacting The Counsellor in London Feel free to ring for an initial chat 020 7916 1342 or email me to arrange a meeting at my London counselling practice based in Camden, near Kings Cross. As well as in-person counselling I can offer Skype counselling, online counselling as another option.
For full details about climate change or eco-anxiety therapy and the Counselling for climate grief in London, Camden, Kings Cross service, my desktop website refers
