Psychotherapists are now responding to a whole new set of fear and anxiety without a manual or training.
 |  | By Daphne Lee, News Editor | | Verywell's news team uses the "This Is Fine" meme in our day-to-day conversations almost too much. It's the contemporary response to any bad news, from the pandemic to climate disasters.
This popular meme shows a cartoon dog sipping on his coffee—very calmly—in a house fire. He seems to have no plans of escaping. What the meme doesn't show is that, at the very end of the original comic strip, the dog melts.
So please run for your dear life if you're ever in a fire, physically or mentally. I myself started therapy after sitting through months of traumatic news on anti-Asian violence and pretending everything was fine. My therapist offers not only empathy, but also allyship and new vocabulary that tackles racism, microaggression, and misogyny.
To kick off mental illness awareness week, I'd like to talk about how psychotherapists are adapting to new concerns. | | | Today's Top Story | | The Growing Need for Climate-Aware Therapists |  | Climate change is not a drill. This summer, wildfire smoke traveled from the West Coast to New York City and Hurricane Ida swept across towns and streets with dramatic floods. These climate disasters might have left you wondering if you should pack an emergency bag or just move to an underground bunker in New Zealand already.
This fear of impending doom is called "climate anxiety." In a poll last year, 40% of Americans reported feeling "disgusted" or "helpless" about climate change. It's a growing sentiment especially among Gen Z, who will be left to save the planet.
Psychotherapists are also scrambling to respond to this increasing eco-anxiety without a manual or training. Leslie Davenport, MS, a climate psychology educator, says that offering validation is a first step, but encouraging people to find a community will be the way forward.
"We need to move our models away from individual therapy interventions to a more collaborative model that is based much more in community, and much more in group interventions and processes," she says. | | Know More | | People experience climate disasters in different ways because of economic and racial disparities. For instance, one in six low-income parents in New Orleans met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder after Hurricane Katrina. Meanwhile, those with more resources were more likely to avoid hurricane-related stressors and loss. | | Feel Better | | Support groups like Climate Café and Good Grief Network are creating spaces for people to gather and share their feelings about the ongoing climate crisis. They're encouraging people to build solidarity by expressing their anger, fear, and grief. | | |  | | Are You Addicted to Exercising? | | Many people took advantage of YouTube workout videos and Peloton to remain physically active while being stuck at home. But the excessive emphasis on staying in shape may have also led to fitness anxiety. If you feel anxious about skipping one workout session, take a step back to reevaluate your relationship with exercise. Social media sometimes sets unrealistic expectations for how your body should look, but if you're already exercising regularly, you're ahead of the curve and me. | | | | Pregnant People Should Avoid Overusing Tylenol | | Over 70% of people have taken Tylenol during pregnancy. But researchers are warning that overusing acetaminophen may lead to ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, and language delay, among other adverse developmental outcomes. Unfortunately, there's no medication alternative to replace Tylenol. For now, researchers suggest consulting with doctors and minimizing acetaminophen use during pregnancy. | | | | | |  | | Kathleen Welsch-Bohmer, PhD, says a good listener doesn't just sit there and hear you out. |  | | Supportive listening is really about letting a person talk through a problem while we listen in a calm, nonjudgmental way. By not jumping in to offer advice or to solve the problem, it allows both people to feel connected. | |  |  | Kathleen Welsch-Bohmer, PhD
Psychiatry Professor at the Duke University School of Medicine
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