Psychologist’s tips – climate, war and cold winters – what to do with all the crises? – News

Now the latest UN report also says: The world is not getting better at the moment, but worse. That’s scary. The spokesman for “Psychologists for Future” explains what that does to us and how we can deal with it.


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The psychologist Felix Peter is co-spokesman for the organization “Psychologists for Future”, which deals specifically with climate anxiety – based on the youth climate movement “Fridays for Future”. He represents the association in the international expert group “European Psychology and Climate Change”. He is also the author of several psychological publications on the climate crisis and co-editor of the anthology “Climate Action – Psychology of the Climate Crisis”. (Picture: Foto-Altstaedt)

SRF News: What are the many crises doing to us?

Felix Peter: It all depends on how you perceive a crisis individually. The energy crisis, for example, worries many because it actually threatens many people. Sometimes fears arise, which can also lead to physical reactions – especially when several crises occur at the same time, as is currently the case.

Are young people particularly affected?

Children and young people are particularly vulnerable. In important development phases, you are confronted with many external as well as internal expectations. They usually look far into the future. Crises can trigger significantly more anxiety than in adults.

Unfortunately, fear often works in such a way that only short-term threats have a positive effect on us.

Does fear make sense as a feeling in evolutionary terms?

In any case. Fear is like our threat detector. Without fear, we would injure ourselves more and die sooner. Unfortunately, fear often works in humans in such a way that only short-term threats have a positive effect on us and energize us. This does not work so well for long-term risks that do not cause concern or are too great. There we are more in the displacement.

Is it bad to push aside the seemingly mounting crises?

no We suppress the whole day in order to cope with the complex demands of everyday life. Otherwise our brain would be overloaded. For longer-term threats, however, ignoring is not effective. But it is not up to an individual to solve the climate crisis, for example. These are tasks that we as a society have to solve. Unfortunately, at this level we always manage to suppress warnings from science, politics or civil society.

Most of us will never see our way out of crisis mode.

Are there more and more crises?

It’s not about quantity, it’s about the fact that we’re transitioning into an age where we’re dealing with complex and interconnected global crises that won’t go away anytime soon.

I think that’s the big problem. Others have referred to this as crisis permanence. Most of us will never see our way out of crisis mode. The climate crisis will last for centuries. That’s very stressful.

What can you do effectively against the fear of crises?

When it comes to your own individual anxiety, the first and most important piece of advice is to find someone you trust to talk to about your concerns. Sharing emotional perception is extremely important for us humans.

The next step is to look at how the feeling of helplessness can be reduced – what can I personally do to feel effective? With regard to the war in Ukraine, we saw that people then took in refugees or organized supply aid. If the fear still doesn’t go away and restricts me in everyday life, then it is actually important to seek professional support.

Leonard Flach conducted the interview.

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