Hello Ryankelly and welcome to the forums.
I can hear in your post how anxious you’re feeling and I can absolutely relate to what you’ve said. I too struggle with anxiety in relation to the world, environment, society, etc. It’s so hard to get away from the constant information we’re exposed to these days. I find that the more I worry about an issue the more my brain ‘hooks’ onto it and I need to find more information to help myself feel safe again, but that just exposes me to more and more alarming material. It can become a cycle of anxiety and compulsion.
You identified social media as contributing to your distress. That’s really positive that you have that awareness. I’ve had to be so strict with myself about what I watch/listen to/read, but it’s really helped me. In particular I stopped watching the news or going on news websites. There is actually very little news that is necessary to know. I was finding that a news item would catch my eye and then before I knew it I’m anxiously searching websites for more information, going down a dark rabbit hole until I can barely breathe.
It sounds like you feel a drive to contribute in some way to the cause. That’s a nice thing, though you need to know you’re doing it for the right reasons and not just feeding the anxiety. Perhaps instead of going to the extreme of donating excessive amounts of money you could participate in some local environmental activities. These are often run by your council or organisations like Planet Ark. Being around like-minded people may help you to get out of your head a little, and help you to see that there are actually people doing positive things.
It’s hard to accept sometimes that there are limits to what we can do to help. I know for me I try to be a ‘perfect’ environmentally-friendly person. I put so much pressure on myself to do the ‘right’ thing, adding lots of anxiety. I have to be reminded sometimes that it’s not all up to me, I can’t control everything, I can only do my best and (kindly) encourage other people to do their best.
Regarding the anxiety, it’s worth visiting your GP to discuss it, but it’s also helpful to learn about how anxiety works and how to decrease and manage the symptoms. There are some great resources about anxiety and panic at:
https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself
I hope this is helpful. Please don’t be too hard on yourself. You sound like a good person who is doing your best. Take care
Alexlisa
