And by becoming more optimistic, perhaps we can create our own. It is a necessary first step to imagining new narratives for our environment – because there is no singular, perfect story to save humankind. Better mental health: Optimists report higher levels of well-being. Changes, as Jake Woodier at The Climate Coalition told me, have come about as a result of “everyday people taking action” – whether that’s through holding their representatives and corporations to account, or pushing for more ambitious climate policy.Įmbracing radical optimism therefore seems to me like the perfect starting point to assuage our collective climate anxiety – and to help us all form a long-term commitment to climate action. Some of the many advantages of optimism that researchers have discovered include: Better health outcomes: A meta-analysis of 83 studies found that optimism played a significant role in health outcomes for cardiovascular disease, cancer, pain, physical symptoms, and mortality. It can also help to remember that whilst we have huge desire to save the planet, we cannot do it through individual action alone. “Having hope and positivity for the future will in turn decrease anxiety and depression.” “Being optimistic increases resilience when coming up against something that seems impossible to solve,” she said. If we are to survive as a species we must. There are a number of ways to do this: one strategy is to choose one negative thought at a time and unpick it by asking if there is evidence to support it – and whether there is any evidence to refute it. When the societal paralysis of despair leads humanity into a dark age, optimism itself becomes a radical concept. Munir told me that a more technical way for better mental health is to change your way of thinking, using a process known as “cognitive reframing”.
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