MH News: Mental Health Benefits of Collective Action

You might be wondering if collective actions are a communal thing then why am I discussing it here? Well, it might shock you a bit, but yes, collective actions have great mental health impacts. You might want to know that collective actions like earth hour, planting, and such activities improve our mental health wellbeing.

Last Saturday, most of us participated in Earth hour. Wondering how turning off lights for an hour could improve our mental wellbeing?

Wait, there is a connection. Let’s take the example of Earth Hour, the idea is to turn off our lights for an hour and do anything we want like host a dance party, play games, or stargaze. Participating in collective activities like Earth Hour not only helps in fighting climate change but also boosts our mental health as it helps to overcome climate anxiety.

Earth Hour might not show any important changes in ecology or greenhouse gases but it provides us space for active consideration. Collective actions provide us an opportunity to look inward as well, it helps us to resolve our stressors and focus on our mental wellbeing. In the next segment, let’s see how our mental health improves from collective actions.

Mental Health Benefits of Collective Actions

The benefits of collective actions not only help us in overcoming climate anxiety but also help in developing a deep sense of understanding of the community. According to the research, collective actions help in strengthening resilience towards the feeling of helplessness or hopelessness. According to a licensed therapist Gretchen Boehm, “the heart of collective action is a beautiful demonstration of community where like-minded individuals are reminded they are not alone in their passionate movement.”

The fact behind the above statement is that people want to feel connected. They want to feel capable so that they can build the courage to resolve the barriers optimistically. By developing these values, one will be able to build an interpersonal relationship and sense of security.

The benefit of collective actions like Earth Hour is being intentional with actions so that they can focus on the consumption of non-essential energy as well. Instead of focusing on the impacts of climate anxiety, we all, as a community can come together actively to resolve this common issue.

It will finally put a stop to the distress caused by climate changes. Not only this, but it will also help in bringing support and inspiration for other individuals as well.

The themes of climate anxiety revolve around environmental damage, collective actions, individual suffering, and global human suffering. Research shows that such themes of climate anxiety are related to a few depressive symptoms as well.

Moreover, when someone participates in collective actions like Earth Hour, they can see a clear difference in how positively it impacts their mental wellbeing. Well, the point to be noted here is that it should not be a one-hour or a yearly thing, we must learn different ways to integrate such collective actions in our daily life as well, it will help in bringing a positive climate change and will benefit the mental standpoint as well.

According to psychologists, there are certain things that trigger mental health such as watching fake news and actively grasping the same without any real source. However, we can overcome such climate anxiety by doing some collective activities like:

• Calling a friend
• Exercising
• Reading
• Meditating
• Journaling
• Volunteering
• Meditating
• Gardening
• Walking in the nature
• Digital detox
• Limiting social media activities

The idea behind doing such activities on a daily basis is to become more mindful when we focus on non-essential electricity, be more present, and try to fill our lives with negative stimulations.

Getting the Right Push!

Do you know what the great thing about collective actions is? The fact is that we can implement them in our daily lives as well. The takeaway from this blog is that we can do anything collectively; it helps in reducing the symptoms of anxiety or depression related to climate changes or climate crises. According to a psychologist, “Climate change is a great example of how collective actions can help alleviate this anxiety.

The bottom line is that when you do things collectively or socially with other people, it has a much stronger effect on your mental health than if you do things independently.” This segment discussed how collective actions can help but the point to be noted is that actions should be taken collectively instead of individually as it shows a positive impact on mental health and on the other hand it helps in helping the earth as well.

I hope this blog helps you with understanding how collective actions help in overcoming climate anxiety and improves overall wellbeing. Comment down your views on such a climate crisis and collective actions that we are doing as a community.

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Thanks for reading!