Feel The Fear ...And Do It Anyway

From TIKTOK MEMES to terrifying targets, the threat of CLIMATE CHANGE has sparked a new wave of ecoanxiety. But, says Megan Agnew, the doomsday scenarios aren't just affecting our stress levels, they're impacting the way WE FACE OUR FUTURE

- Megan Agnew

While everyone else at the luxury resort in Mexico was lying on the postcard-worthy beach, Chelsea, 37, was scouring it. She spent her days looking for the plastic rings which hold beer cans together, picking them off the sand and putting them in the bin, and spent her nights worrying about how many others were still out there. 'My anxiety is greatly exacerbated by anything that isn't eco-conscious, she says. 'If I see a bunch of plastic water bottles in a bin, my anxiety spikes. A mattress in a dumpster, I'm thinking about it.

For Chelsea, an actor living in Canada, small decisions are paralysing. She researches every product she purchases, weighing up its environmental impact. All she can hear in conversations with friends is them talking, absentmindedly, about decisions that are destroying the environment. It makes her stomach churn. 'I am constantly trying to find a balance between respecting the earth and contributing to making it a better place, but also finding happiness in my own life,' she says. And because of my anxiety, it's impossible.'

She has suffered from anxiety for as long as she can remember, but over the last few years it has become focused on the environment. It is pretty much the only thing she discusses with her therapist. 'The worst part is that the vast majority of people do not understand,' she continues. 'They just shrug their shoulders and tell me, It's just some plastic bottles. I can't get them to understand that when I see those things, I go to the bigger picture right away. They often think I'm just torturing myself, that there's nothing to be done, which in and of itself is upsetting.'