Activist mental health and managing burnout: Difference between revisions
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=== Putting community care into action === | === Putting community care into action === | ||
==== Bringing the ingredients of a culture of care to life ==== | ==== Bringing the ingredients of a culture of care to life ==== | ||
<p><span style="">These ingredients are taken from the article | <p><span style="">These ingredients are taken from the article [https://wagingnonviolence.org/2023/03/we-need-a-movement-that-addresses-the-trauma-of-fighting-for-a-burning-planet/ We need a climate movement that addresses the trauma of fighting for a burning planet] by [https://wagingnonviolence.org/ Waging Nonviolence].</span></p> | ||
<p><span style=""> | <p><span style="">Note that the actions for the different ingredients described may be different from one group to another.</span></p> | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" style="height: 1016px;" | ||
|- | |- style="height: 28px;" | ||
| '''<span style="">Ingredient</span><br>''' | | style="height: 28px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Ingredient</span><br>''' | ||
| | | style="height: 28px; width: 1476.75px;" | <p>''<span style="">Examples</span>''<br></p> | ||
|- | |- style="height: 158px;" | ||
| '''<span style="">Ease</span>'''<span style=""> | | style="height: 158px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Ease </span>'''<span style="">*ingredient added by the HUB</span><br>'''<br>''' | ||
| | | style="height: 158px; width: 1476.75px;" | <p><span style="">This ingredient allows people to take action accessibly; it's less complicated, less energy-consuming, and less reserved for people who know how things work. </span><span style="">In a context where many activists tell us that their mental health improves in action, facilitating it has its place as an ingredient of community care in the context of activism.</span></p> | ||
<p> | <p>You can contribute this ingredient to your grop by:</p> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Creating documentation answering potential questions for new joiners.</span> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Creating a meeting calendar to remove the collective burden of planning a new meeting date after each meeting</span> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Adding opportunities that makes it easier to get involved (i.e. makes </span><span style="">certain tasks, project management, meeting organization, etc. less energy-intensive).</span> | ||
|- | |- style="height: 135px;" | ||
| '''<span style="">Space</span>'''<br> | | style="height: 135px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Space</span>'''<br> | ||
| | | style="height: 135px; width: 1476.75px;" | <p><span style="">To rest, reflect, recover and heal.</span><br></p> | ||
<p> | <p>Contribute to this by:</p> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Planning campaigns with low points (that is, easier lift actions or time off)</span> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Holding sharing and learning circles.</span> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Planning rest times.</span> | ||
|- | |- style="height: 196px;" | ||
| '''<span style="">Love</span>''' | | style="height: 196px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Love</span>''' | ||
| | | style="height: 196px; width: 1476.75px;" | | ||
*<span style="">Regular compliments, positive feedback, and celebration of people and their work (“I separate people from their work, because we need to better celebrate the inherent value of people, regardless of their work”). | <span style="">This might include:</span> | ||
*<span style="">Regular compliments, positive feedback, and celebration of people and their work (“I separate people from their work, because we need to better celebrate the inherent value of people, regardless of their work”). <ref>https://wagingnonviolence.org/2023/03/we-need-a-movement-that-addresses-the-trauma-of-fighting-for-a-burning-planet/</ref> </span><br> | |||
*<span style="">Put time into the personal growth of members.</span> | *<span style="">Put time into the personal growth of members.</span> | ||
*<span style="">Regularly check in on people's well-being.</span> | *<span style="">Regularly check in on people's well-being.</span> | ||
*<span style="">Create communities of support for people going through difficult times.</span> | *<span style="">Create communities of support for people going through difficult times.</span> | ||
*<span style="">Mentoring and pairing.</span> | *<span style="">Mentoring and pairing.</span> | ||
|- | |- style="height: 28px;" | ||
| '''<span style="">Diversity</span>''' | | style="height: 28px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Diversity</span>''' | ||
| | | style="height: 28px; width: 1476.75px;" | | ||
<span style="">Encourage diversity of perspectives and respectful feedback.</span> | |||
|- | |- style="height: 106px;" | ||
| '''<span style="">Limit</span>''' | | style="height: 106px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Limit</span>''' | ||
| | | style="height: 106px; width: 1476.75px;" | | ||
*<span style=""> | <span style="">Try:</span> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Asking rather than assume that some people are able to take on more work.</span><br> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">To have clear objectives to avoid feeling like you have to do everything.</span> | ||
|- | *<span style="">Encouraging people to set their own boundaries and communicate them.</span> | ||
| '''<span style="">Awareness</span>''' | |- style="height: 28px;" | ||
| | | style="height: 28px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Awareness</span>''' | ||
| style="height: 28px; width: 1476.75px;" | | |||
|- | <span style="">Create spaces to address different issues (unconscious bias, trauma, feedback and reflection, etc.).</span><br> | ||
| '''<span style="">Compassion</span><br>''' | |- style="height: 77px;" | ||
| | | style="height: 77px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Compassion</span><br>''' | ||
*<span style=""> | | style="height: 77px; width: 1476.75px;" | | ||
<span style="">Encourage:</span> | |||
*<span style="">Seeing mistakes as part of learning.</span><br> | |||
*<span style="">Knowing the needs of the people around us.</span> | *<span style="">Knowing the needs of the people around us.</span> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Avoiding judgment.</span> | ||
|- | |- style="height: 77px;" | ||
| '''<span style="">Vulnerability</span><br>''' | | style="height: 77px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Vulnerability</span><br>''' | ||
| | | style="height: 77px; width: 1476.75px;" | | ||
*<span style=""> | <span style="">Suggest:</span> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Honesty when you make mistakes.</span><br> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Taking time to welcome people with their strengths, fears and needs.</span> | ||
|- | *<span style="">"Demanding and striving for what is needed, not just what [one thinks] can be achieved, despite fear or outside attacks." <ref>https://wagingnonviolence.org/2023/03/we-need-a-movement-that-addresses-the-trauma-of-fighting-for-a-burning-planet/</ref> </span> | ||
| '''<span style="">Joy</span>''' | |- style="height: 77px;" | ||
| | | style="height: 77px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Joy</span>''' | ||
*<span style=""> | | style="height: 77px; width: 1476.75px;" | | ||
<span style="">This includes:</span> | |||
*<span style="">Taking time to play, “time without a goal”.</span><br> | |||
*<span style="">Recurring social time and moments of celebration.</span> | *<span style="">Recurring social time and moments of celebration.</span> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Identifying the types of work that are associated with joy and find ways to incorporate them.</span> | ||
|- | |- style="height: 53px;" | ||
| '''<span style="">Fluidity</span><br>''' | | style="height: 53px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Fluidity</span><br>''' | ||
| | | style="height: 53px; width: 1476.75px;" | | ||
*<span style=""> | <span style="">Encourage this by:</span> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Having an openness to change according to what surrounds us.</span><br> | ||
|- | *<span style="">Sharing and learning from others in order to “contaminate” ourselves with our knowledge.</span> | ||
| '''<span style="">Imagination</span><br>''' | |- style="height: 53px;" | ||
| | | style="height: 53px; width: 175.25px;" | '''<span style="">Imagination</span><br>''' | ||
| style="height: 53px; width: 1476.75px;" | | |||
<span style="">Try:</span> | |||
*<span style="">Welcoming more art and artists to our spaces.</span><br> | *<span style="">Welcoming more art and artists to our spaces.</span><br> | ||
*<span style=""> | *<span style="">Learning from people outside our circles.</span> | ||
|} | |} | ||
<p><span style="">Establish a feedback mechanism | <p><span style="">Establish a feedback mechanism <ref>https://transitionnetwork.org/news/editorial-sophy-banks-on-balance-or-burnout/</ref> </span><sup class="reference"></sup></p> | ||
<p><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"></sup><br><span style="">A work team can be mandated to conduct this | <p><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"></sup><br><span style="">A work team can be mandated to conduct this process on an ongoing basis. </span><span style="">Roles related to supporting the process should be clear and ideally, rotating to sharing the emotional load.</span></p> | ||
<p><br></p> | <p><br></p> | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" style="height: 276px;" | ||
|- | |- style="height: 57px;" | ||
| '''<span style="">1. Space for receiving feedback and needs</span>'''<br> | | style="height: 57px; width: 174.344px;" | '''<span style="">1. Space for receiving feedback and needs</span>'''<br> | ||
| | | style="height: 57px; width: 1477.66px;" | <p><span style="">Have spaces to take and receive </span>''<span style="">feedback </span>''<span style="">from members on group activities and on people's needs related to group activities.</span></p> | ||
<p><br></p> | <p><br></p> | ||
<p><span style="">Examples: meeting every two weeks rather than every week, creating moments for congratulations, hosting activities, organizing recurring social activities, creating a support and sharing group | |- style="height: 51px;" | ||
|- | | style="height: 51px; width: 174.344px;" | '''<span style="">2. Evaluation of feedback received</span>'''<br> | ||
| '''<span style="">4. Counter resistance</span><br>''' | | style="height: 51px; width: 1477.66px;" | <p><span style="">Discuss what the feedback means for the group.</span><br></p> | ||
| | |- style="height: 57px;" | ||
| | | style="height: 57px; width: 174.344px;" | '''<span style="">3. Taking action</span>'''<br> | ||
| '''<span style="">5. Assess</span><br>''' | | style="height: 57px; width: 1477.66px;" | <p><span style="">Create an appropriate care response for people in the group or community.</span></p> | ||
| | <p><span style="">Examples: meeting every two weeks rather than every week, creating moments for congratulations, hosting activities, organizing recurring social activities, creating a support and sharing group etc.</span></p> | ||
|- style="height: 83px;" | |||
| style="height: 83px; width: 174.344px;" | '''<span style="">4. Counter resistance</span><br>''' | |||
| style="height: 83px; width: 1477.66px;" | <span style="">At this stage, we try to go beyond the old comfort zone of the group to create a new one. </span><span style="">Collective effort must be made to support the actions needed to respond to the feedback of the group. </span> | |||
|- style="height: 28px;" | |||
| style="height: 28px; width: 174.344px;" | '''<span style="">5. Assess</span><br>''' | |||
| style="height: 28px; width: 1477.66px;" | <span style="">Ask whether the action(s) were able to respond to the feedback or the needs expressed.</span><br> | |||
|} | |} | ||
Revision as of 17:31, 6 June 2023
This page was created following a question received by a person from the HUB community: "How can we take care of ourselves as activists, when the resources and support available reinforce the systems we want to dismantle?" The following are covered: capitalist approaches to mental health, eco-anxiety, eco-whitewashing, individual empowerment, burnout, community care and individual practices within communities. This page will be continuously added to.
Mental Health
In capitalist society
In our capitalist society, mental health is presented as an individual matter and for us to work on or it is treated as a matter to be medicated. We live in interdependence with the people and situations around us. Individual mental health and the window of tolerance one has to manage stress is affected by, for example:
- the oppression the individual experiences; includes things like environmental factors in our upbringing or present (e.g. living conditions, access to opportunities, microaggressions etc).
- the difficulties faced by people around them
- the variety of ways our brains function
- our parents upbringing and the influence this had on the parenting we received
Mental health is a collective issue.
Facing the climate crisis
Why seek psychological services if the person I see does not understand what I am going through and is not also trying to dismantle the system in place?
Will going to see a therapist will just make me even more angry? I don't want to educate him on the systems of oppression and the seriousness of the crisis...
The multiple crises that surround us, exacerbated by the climate crisis, awaken emotions that are also influenced by:
Dominant discourses on the climate crisis |
|
Dominant discourses on eco-anxiety |
Saviourism draws autonomy away from these groups, and describes them as powerless. Focus on the people, groups and systems who are perpetrating the climate crisis and that need to be held accountable. |
Individual responsibility for care |
“People talk a lot about taking care of yourself, but that means doing what you individually can outside of your job while the big structures that reproduce inequality remain firmly in place."- Janey Starling & Seyi Falodun-Liburd [1] |
Countering the dominant discourse
Faced with this reality and these discourses that feed distress, it is important to nurture a counter-discourse that centers the real causes of the climate crisis and the collective action necessary for climate justice. These counter-discourses speak of social movements, popular organization and collective power.
- To learn more about the different components of social movements, see movement ecology .
- To better understand how what you feel is related to the climate crisis, see @environmentalist.affirmations who popularized the content of the book, A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety by Sarah Jaquette Ray
- See also our page on eco-anxiety.
In activism
Burnout
Burnout is physical or emotional exhaustion caused by overwork or stress according to the Chambers Dictionary. This is a lived reality in almost all militant circles. It can be the result of an imbalance between aspects of our activism and our life.
Here are some causes of activist burnout mentioned by Sophy Banks of Transition Network
The stakes are high, urgent and very important |
“…in a society where a portion of the population is causing the problems, the people who feel responsible for solving them may be a small minority with few resources.." |
Doing is more good than feeling |
If we don't realize how we feel, it's possible that our feelings...
|
Giving more value to actions than to the state of people |
Only giving value to what is “productive”. This is a form of internalized ableism and it is damaging to our mental health. |
Act according to “heroism” |
Overdoing and not letting other people do important tasks, i.e. not sharing leadership |
Succumb to time pressure |
“What do we lose when we go too fast and do too much?"'
We lose:
|
Collective support
Systems of oppression create great hardships for each person to go through. If we collectivize care, we include the most precarious people and we learn to use our greatest tool in building a world without violence. [2]
"Prioritising care is a refusal to abandon oneself and the others around us." [3]
In the face of the climate crisis and the many social crises we face, we can support each other collectively through community care and a regenerative culture.
Community care
Community care is the shared responsibility to offer and receive the emotional, physical and structural support we need in order to live more lovingly and liberatedly. It's also the way we improve our groups to meet our aspirations.
Communal care within a group includes...
- Space to arrive as a human person with personal challenges.
- Building a culture in our spaces and relationships rooted in trust and mutual compassion
Community care is not opposed to discipline or rigor. Instead, we use our energy more strategically because “our battles are too important for any one of us to burn out." [4]
Thus, community care is integral to team functioning so we can carry out our fights with more ease.
Patriarcheal systems today suggest care is largely assumed by women in our societies. If we wish to develop community care in our spaces, this work must be done and organized in an explicit way so that the mental load is not assumed by women and femmes, or by those experiencign other forms of oppression (ableism, racism etc).
Putting community care into action
Bringing the ingredients of a culture of care to life
These ingredients are taken from the article We need a climate movement that addresses the trauma of fighting for a burning planet by Waging Nonviolence.
Note that the actions for the different ingredients described may be different from one group to another.
Ingredient |
Examples |
Ease *ingredient added by the HUB |
This ingredient allows people to take action accessibly; it's less complicated, less energy-consuming, and less reserved for people who know how things work. In a context where many activists tell us that their mental health improves in action, facilitating it has its place as an ingredient of community care in the context of activism. You can contribute this ingredient to your grop by:
|
Space |
To rest, reflect, recover and heal. Contribute to this by:
|
Love |
This might include:
|
Diversity |
Encourage diversity of perspectives and respectful feedback. |
Limit |
Try:
|
Awareness |
Create spaces to address different issues (unconscious bias, trauma, feedback and reflection, etc.). |
Compassion |
Encourage:
|
Vulnerability |
Suggest:
|
Joy |
This includes:
|
Fluidity |
Encourage this by:
|
Imagination |
Try:
|
Establish a feedback mechanism [7]
A work team can be mandated to conduct this process on an ongoing basis. Roles related to supporting the process should be clear and ideally, rotating to sharing the emotional load.
1. Space for receiving feedback and needs |
Have spaces to take and receive feedback from members on group activities and on people's needs related to group activities. |
2. Evaluation of feedback received |
Discuss what the feedback means for the group. |
3. Taking action |
Create an appropriate care response for people in the group or community. Examples: meeting every two weeks rather than every week, creating moments for congratulations, hosting activities, organizing recurring social activities, creating a support and sharing group etc. |
4. Counter resistance |
At this stage, we try to go beyond the old comfort zone of the group to create a new one. Collective effort must be made to support the actions needed to respond to the feedback of the group. |
5. Assess |
Ask whether the action(s) were able to respond to the feedback or the needs expressed. |
What sustains activists around the world
An article by Helen Cox summarizes what activists have said they do to support their activism. They shared their individual care practices (useful for people wondering what they can do here and now alongside creating community care mechanisms.
Their answers could guide reflections related to...
- commitment capacity
- exercise
- the sleep
- the food
- nature
- time management and breaks
- group dynamics
- meditation practices
- non-militant relations
- mentoring
- social networks
- long-term vision and thinking
- creativity
- Spirituality
What sustains activists in the HUB community
Here are some responses from activists in the HUB community to the question "What makes you feel good about activism?"
" community " | "the interconnection" |
“feel the influence we can have” | “more people are starting to get involved in activism” |
“Perhaps it allows you to free yourself from certain frustrations or anxieties? » |
Would you like to submit your response? You can write to kenzie@lehub.ca!
Other resources and external support
Zine: Sustainable Activism & Avoiding Burnout
Analysis: We need a climate movement that addresses the trauma of fighting for a burning planet
How collective care can change society | Janey Starling & Seyi Falodun-Liburd | TEDxLondonWomen
Section Well-being - Commons Change Library
Notes from the book A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety by Sarah Jaquette Ray
State Violence & Mental Health - Disruption Network Lab
Fighting for Justice in Mental Health - Disruption Network Lab
Book: Healing Justice by Jarem Sawatsky
Book: Care work - Dreaming disability justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Eco-motion resources (see bottom of page for free resources)
Sustaining ourselves as Activists - Helen Cox (The Commons)
Crisis Toolkit - Fireweed Collective
Testimonials from young people about their feelings about the climate crisis (Le temps de militer)
“10 Great Resources on Activist Wellbeing - Commons Librarian”
Tiohtià:ke (colonially known as Montreal)
Mental health support for people from BIPOC communities - Génération Lavande
Emergency and relief resources for people in BIPOC communities - Génération Lavande
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj-alDQD2fg
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj-alDQD2fg
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj-alDQD2fg
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj-alDQD2fg
- ↑ https://wagingnonviolence.org/2023/03/we-need-a-movement-that-addresses-the-trauma-of-fighting-for-a-burning-planet/
- ↑ https://wagingnonviolence.org/2023/03/we-need-a-movement-that-addresses-the-trauma-of-fighting-for-a-burning-planet/
- ↑ https://transitionnetwork.org/news/editorial-sophy-banks-on-balance-or-burnout/