Do you feel your anxiety rising as the planet heats up? As someone who researches climate science, I can confirm that eco-anxiety is not a gimmick—it’s real. A recent American Psychiatric Association survey revealed that 67% of Americans are experiencing some degree of anxiety due to the climate catastrophe. And more than half of the respondents worried about the climate crisis’s impact on their mental well-being. So, for Mental Health Awareness Month (coming up in May), let’s be proactive—and go vegan.
Since I became conscious of my environmental impact, I recycle, buy secondhand clothes and reduce plastics in my family’s home. But eating vegan helps my eco-anxiety the most. According to a study by the University of Oxford, going vegan is the “single biggest way” to reduce your environmental impact. Researchers found that ditching meat and dairy could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73%.
When we are proactive in our role in the climate catastrophe, we can better confront the stress of frightening climate change-related events like raging wildfires, food insecurity and house-destroying storms. It’s empowering. And sharing vegan food with my family has amplified our collective impact.
