In the fight for planetary health, how do we preserve our mental health?
CTV
As more Canadians grapple with catastrophic impacts of climate-fuelled extreme weather, the question of how a person can keep up the fight for planetary health while tending to their mental health has extended beyond the environmental circles.
It was early May and wildfire season had already started to rage in Western Canada when seven people settled into a monthly support-group meeting over Zoom.
The facilitator, Toronto-based Kady Cowan, opened the conversation by prompting others to acknowledge any climate change-related concerns weighing on their minds. Worrying her, Cowan said in her soothing voice, were the unprecedented "zombie fires" burning in British Columbia that feed on peat and woody tree roots over the winter and re-emerge in the spring.
Discussion gradually ramped up as others on the call shared their own concerns during what Cowan calls the "climate sanctuary," a peer-support group she founded more than four years ago for people in climate-linked roles, both professional and volunteer. The rest of the 90-minute meeting was punctuated by poetry readings, controlled breathing exercises and chances to explore a constellation of emotions.
"It's not abnormal to be distressed when you're watching a world around you evaporate – the types of things that we all relied on disappearing," Cowan said in an interview. "You're not sick to be worried about that."
Climate peer-support groups, like Cowan's, are increasingly recognized as one way to help build mental health resilience in a world that can sometimes appear indifferent to the effects of climate change.
At that session in early May, several people in the group expressed a sense of relief at being able to open up with like-minded peers. That's important, said Cowan.
"A lot of people just need those feelings validated," she said.
Tesla is recalling almost 700,000 vehicles because of an issue with the warning light on the tire pressure monitoring system.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s wish list for the incoming Trump administration includes oil and gas exploration in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and reversing restrictions on logging and road-building in a temperate rainforest that provides habitat for wolves, bears and salmon.
The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders is urging Apple to remove its newly introduced artificial intelligence feature that summarizes news stories after it produced a false headline from the BBC.
A yearlong trial of 493 adults, with an average age of 53, found vagus nerve stimulation therapy led to improvement in participants' depressive symptoms, ability to complete daily tasks and quality of life.
Two thousand years ago, the one-time rulers of modern-day Turkiye's southwestern corner had a fully functioning democratic federation.
U.S. auto safety regulators have backed away from seeking a giant recall of nearly 50 million air bag inflators and will investigate further after the auto industry raised questions about whether all of the inflators are defective.
The world's largest hornet, an invasive breed dubbed the “murder hornet” for its dangerous sting and ability to slaughter a honey bee hive in a matter of hours, has been declared eradicated in the U.S., five years after being spotted for the first time in Washington state near the Canadian border.
Scientists have found unprecedented evidence of another type of squirrel exhibiting carnivorous behaviours, including hunting, killing and eating voles, according to a new study.
A patient in Louisiana has been hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1 bird flu, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, the first such case in the United States.
With the high cost of living increasingly a concern, some seniors are making sacrifices to help their adult children and grandchildren make ends meet. Here are some of their stories.
Japanese automakers Nissan Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. confirmed Wednesday that they are discussing closer collaboration but denied reports they have decided on a merger.