How to cope when the goalposts of ‘normal’ keep moving
There’s a breaking apart happening—not just in political fractures, but in something harder to name: the slow erosion of trust, the disorientation of watching so many people behave as though they don’t possess a basic sense of right from wrong, which way is up, or what’s even real. This week’s Dear Climate Therapist column dives straight into that uncertainty, with two letters from people wondering where the line is between a reasonable response to an unreasonable world and distress that needs intervention. 

Our resident climate-aware therapist Caroline Hickman says we need to learn how to name what we’re feeling, to stay present in the confusion, to trust that care is not maladaptive, and that feeling deeply in the face of ‘the end of things as we’ve known them’ is not a weakness, but a kind of wisdom to guide the way.

Now, over to our readers who asked some potent and timely questions, and Caroline’s considered response.

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Dear Climate Therapist,
How do I know what a “normal” reaction of climate distress is, and when it’s more than that? During the first few waves of COVID, I kept brushing off how anxious, angry, and hopeless I regularly felt because I told myself, “who wouldn’t be given the pandemic, and ecological crises, and racial injustices, and the rise of fascism, etc.”? At some point, my therapist told me that, yes, these are all facts, /and/ I still struggle with my emotions around them to a point where it’s maladaptive. I get that framing, but it can be hard to tell when things cross the line.
– Glass Half Empty

Dear Climate Therapist,
The world’s gone mad and even though I was coping ‘ok-ish’ with my climate anxiety, I’m now completely out of my depth with climate anxiety combined with Trump anxiety combined with rise of right-wing ideology anxiety. I thought I was doing ok but tell me how to cope with this!’
– What on Earth?!?!

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