These days I try not to have collapse or climate related conversations with people as I don't feel the need to convince people and/or burst their bubble. But recently I've found that they are steering the conversation to the topic and I am making them feel even worse then they already do. They are talking to me about it because Im in a related field of work.

Their worried about what is happening and are seeing the writting on the wall, but they generally aren't as far along the process of realising just how bad things are. I don't want to lie or sugar coat it, so if they ask or I'm expected to add something to the conversation then I'm honest with what I understand is happening. I don't go out of my way to tell them though.

I try to add something of use to help process the info but I just feel awful being that person that people are coming to with their concerns and I send them away with deeper concerns rather than feeling like things are going to get better.

Anyone else struggle with the same? I appreciate that they come to me for support, but I hate seeing others come to the same realisation and processing the grief - especially when they are parents thinking about their childrens future.

The title doesnt even do justice to my feelings. This is maybe the most down I have ever felt in my life. I've spent the entire night crying because it is hard to come to grips with every idea I have had about my future is not going to become a reality. And I know it is selfish because I already lived a privileged life and there are children in Palestine dying right now who wish they had these problems.

But I'm sad. I'm sad I had to break up with an incredible woman because I don't believe it is ethical to have children with our climate situation. I am sad because I wanted to be a father for as long as I could think about it. I wanted to have a child that I would grow with and teach sports like my dad did with me. Go fishing and do whatever the hell he or she liked and wanted because I would support them. But that dream is dead now and all I'm left with is to watch the people I love and care about die in the coming years as our society breaks down.

I'm an absolute mess about this and having trouble coping. I have friends in tropical climates who I am terrified for how they will manage. People I love that I don't think are going to make it..

I wanted to have hope.. I just don't see anything but climate change and the political state of the world bringing out absolute disaster. And there's nothing I can do to stop it.

I want to enjoy the days but it is so hard when in the back of my mind I know this is all meaningless and we are headed towards disaster. How do you guys function / manage with this knowledge? You can say spend the time you have and enjoy it and yeah that is true and it does give me some solace. But at the same time my dreams are dead. The dreams of a future, the dreams of being a father, and my dreams of living a long healthy life.

I don't even want to survive when the collapse happens. If it is pure chaos, lawlessness and rationing for food / water I think I will just check out. There's no point in living in a world like that. But I did want a good life and it is so hard to cope with realizing that will never be a reality for me. I feel so sad..

https://youtu.be/VeFMdVIFsgs?si=2cI7FAmXfl3j48HH

I find that watching wise cats such as these at the start of each day helps avoid freaking out, because cats are doing that for me. And we don't know how long until all the cat videos run out, so we gotta stock up now!

Hope that helps 🫠

I had an emotional breakdown a year and a half ago caused by the realization that we're experiencing collapse and most people either don't know it or refuse to recognize it. I've been in a depressive state ever since then with very short periods of feeling somewhat normal.

I believe that part of my depression stems from grieving for a dying world. It's a helluva lot to process. Yesterday, I went for a long walk. Near the end I looked up at the beautiful blue sky and tried to tap into the cosmic perspective while picturing the countless worlds in existence and putting our existence within perspective. But tears came to my eyes as two thoughts came to my mind. The first was that I had the privilege of safely looking up as many millions are being bombed and starved because of war and internal conflicts. The other reason was that we are poisoning the planet and have no real plans to stop. I'm still working out how to negotiate this grieving process, but I'm processing it emotionally nonetheless, and that's comforting to me.

I am typing this out on my work laptop but its affecting me at work. I thought working would have helped ease the anxiety. I recently had a bad mental break down and im healing from it one day at a time but sometimes it gets tough you know. I have hope that we can help the earth and that the earth will heal itself, but seeing all these news is making it hard. I want the ability to be able to see the age 50 you know. I want to live a long fulfilling life and it seems hard to hope for it. This eco-anxiety is fucking me up bad and I just want to be free of it.

I am educating myself on it because me not knowing will give me more is making me more depressed. I am living day by day enjoying the moments I have with the people I work but that little dark thought comes out and it ruins it for me. I want to cry but I am at work and I cant risk it. I am glad I found this sub reddit because I think expressing my feelings will help me start to heal better. Im just rambling at this point but I just want to feel like I can look towards something in the near future.

How to Cope and Prep

So I've done my research, gotten a few sustainability certifications, talked to some experts and the result seems inevitable. We are absolutely cooked. This is a 2 part question and pessimistic at that.

1. How do you all cope knowing we, Gen Z, will be the last generation to die of old age (if we even make it)? Everyday I just see more concrete proof that within the next 20-30 years our world will look completely different, societies around the world collapsing, famines, disease outbreaks. How do you go on living life knowing that a 401k is pointless, you'll never have kids, and you might not even see your 50s?

2. How are you all preparing? I have some plans but they require a large amount of money I don't have in order to buy land in certain places that will probably be somewhat less impacted. Once crops start to fail or governments start to crumble I forsee "humanity" going out of the window for most and it terrifies me. People will say learn farming, hunting, etc. I live in major city currently and work a 9-5 so I don't have the resources or time to really learn these skills. I have basic WFA training and that's about it. How do you survive the inevitable collapse that is coming when climate change's impacts reach that certain threshold?

How to Cope and Prep

So I've done my research, gotten a few sustainability certifications, talked to some experts and the result seems inevitable. We are absolutely cooked. This is a 2 part question and pessimistic at that.

1. How do you all cope knowing we, Gen Z, will be the last generation to die of old age (if we even make it)? Everyday I just see more concrete proof that within the next 20-30 years our world will look completely different, societies around the world collapsing, famines, disease outbreaks. How do you go on living life knowing that a 401k is pointless, you'll never have kids, and you might not even see your 50s?

2. How are you all preparing? I have some plans but they require a large amount of money I don't have in order to buy land in certain places that will probably be somewhat less impacted. Once crops start to fail or governments start to crumble I forsee "humanity" going out of the window for most and it terrifies me. People will say learn farming, hunting, etc. I live in major city currently and work a 9-5 so I don't have the resources or time to really learn these skills. I have basic WFA training and that's about it. How do you survive the inevitable collapse that is coming when climate change's impacts reach that certain threshold?

I am just finishing my MS degree and starting a PhD in artificial intelligence for healthcare. My lab works on a lot of meaningful projects, including low-cost technologies that use AI to augment ultrasound-based breast cancer screening, which is cheaper and more available than mammography in developing countries. However, I have been wondering whether my work will make any positive impact in the long run, given the high possibility of societal degradation in the near future. I also have a lot of guilt about the massive energy resources that are used to train the large AI models that tech companies are trying to scale right now. Part of me wants to quit this program, buy a cheap plot of land, and learn how to do some farming. Looking for positive support if possible, and is there any way for me to make a positive difference if I continue down the path I'm on?

I keep trying to find hope, but everything just seems to be a delaying tactic. If Trump wins, and if taxes go up, the economy takes a hit from the loss of all those jobs and government services, my parents (whom I am financially supporting) will probably lose their house and social security and that will probably kill the both of them.

I just don’t know what to do. It just seems like our fate (and our planet’s) is already sealed. Ecological devastation everywhere, the oligarchy is grabbing power openly now, and no real hope for anyone. How do I cope?

Winter used to be my favorite season. Whenever it snows outside my first thoughts are memories of staying home from school on snow days, the taste of candy canes and hot chocolate, and going sledding, and later skiing, with my family and friends. Just joy all around.

For the past year it's all been upside down. I don't think I'm in the minority when I say I doubt we'll ever have a white Christmas again. But the most maddening part is how many people just seem to be okay with it. I hate how the common reaction I hear on unseasonally warm days is "it's finally nice out again!" As if it being warm and sunny in the winter isn't anything but an omen for a historically brutal summer. Even though fall isn't over yet, the temperature being in the 70s in late October doesn't do anything to give me hope for the rest of the year. Or the decade, for that matter.

Hey guys, I took your feedback and made some changes to make my second video more engaging and less scary.

This video is about finding meaning while trying to survive the oncoming collapse. Again, I would be very grateful for any constructive feedback to help me improve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehUx2Tp8FhM
Sorry if the humor is insensitive or glib, was trying to make it more watchable

Next Generation, season 7, Episode 9 "Force of Nature"

It came up in a random playlist today. The story was an analogy for our dependence on fossil fuels and the damage they cause the planet. The last line was Picard saying to Riker that "we still have time to fix it". I've had that line stuck in my head all day. It's the only time I've ever found a Star Trek episode depressing.

Edit: typo

I know collapses is not only about pandemics. But ever since Covid happened I became overly aware of how much the world is getting worse. I became hyper fixated on covid and it has genuinely ruined my life. It made the depression I had since I was a kid so much worse. I am also sure I have contamination ocd now and it’s genuinely made my life hell. All I think about it contamination. Then now I’m worried of the next pandemic. In one way I’m absolutely terrified if or when bird flu plays out and how it will destroy humanity if it mutates soon to human to human transmission. I hate it so much I never got time to live the rest of my life out a little more about lost time from covid. I also feel done I just want my life to be tired because I’m so exhausted from hearing and seeing how bad things got. Even more I’m tired of fearing how worse it will get soon.I’m genuinely exhausted and terrified.

It feels hopeless. It’s never enough.

I rarely leave the household. When I do I try to use a bike but there are just places I can only reach with car, so I feel guilty of the emissions whenever I have to use it.

I recycle every little thing I can think of, going through lengths to fill the recycling bin as to not cause more waste.

I limit myself to vegetables and more ethical sources, but I have to get meat for my grandparents at their age to keep them at a healthy weight, making me feel like I’m being selfish.

I am trying to keep a garden full of flowers and plants and I enjoy seeing the bees and birds come by and enjoy.

I am looking into ways I can filter water to reuse it cause I feel guilty by just taking a shower because water is such a precious resource.

Communities work together and do clean ups and environmental related work constantly with no monetary reward or expectation.

But everything is still getting worse. The emissions are still rising, the weathers getting warm, the wars are still waging.

A thousand acts of kindness undone by a single action of a selfish cooperation or individual. By the time I feel that we’ve done so much good the next day comes and it feels like we’re back to square one.

I apologize, because this has become more of a rant than an actual discussion. I’m just feeling so tired. I keep going because I want to enjoy this life with my family and pets. There’s so many of us trying. But it’s hard to keep up when in the end it feels never enough.

Asking because although I currently live in SE Asia (Bangkok, Thailand), I am planning to leave the country and move to possibly the Great Lake Areas, or some other more climatically secure regions in the future as I'm also dual American citizen.

The problem is that since I live in Thailand most of my life due to the fact all my immediate family are locals (I'm the only one born in the USA although I never lived there), I don't really have any close connections or any places to stay outside the country. Though, I do have some distant relatives and friends in the West but I'm not close enough to them to just easily move abroad and stayed with them long term.

Because of that, I will have to find ways to earn money to leave the country and settle somewhere else (nevertheless, I don't really have an exact clue where to move either), which due to my neurodivergency (aspergers/high functioning autism/low support needs to none) makes it harder for me to achieve these goals (I never really have a proper job except this four month teaching contract which has already ended and a few internships, that's it). Also my family owned a business here, which generates a lot of our income and act as a financial backup for us in case of unemployment. However, I'm not sure what to do with our property in the future when the climate apocalypse struck Thailand and the surrounding countries, killing billions and destroying cities and entire nations. I'm 28 years old. My undergrad and masters degree are in Sociology/Anthropology and Southeast Asian Studies btw. I also have a teaching certificate so maybe I can become a teacher. Now, I'm temporarily volunteering at an autistic learning center&foundation as a teaching assistant and admin office worker although it's not my plan to work here long term.

I mean Typhoon Yagi hit SE Asia hard this year and kill almost 1,000 in many countries. And Cyclone Nargis slaughtered 140,000 in Myanmar during 2008. So as the planet rapidly heats up, we are going to see more deadlier and destructive natural disasters. Apparently, Bangkok, Jakarta, Dhaka, Ho Chi Minh City for examples, are predicted to become Atlantis by 2050 due to rising sea levels.

Actually my sister is doing her masters in Michigan right now. Should I use this as an opportunity to move and secure a land there? Although I really have no idea how to proceed to get there. I don't know what jobs/career I can do. Shall I try to contact and join some agrarian village/intentional communities? But me, like most young urban Thais, don't have any useful/pre-industrial skills to contribute as a useful member of some subsistence commune. I also some weakness in my back (used to have sciatica before getting it fixed with microdisectomy) which would hinder any attempt at learning gardening/permaculture/organic farming.

Although I have learnt that the Arctic warms 4x faster than the Equator, therefore, it looks like there are no 100% lifeboats in the end. But overall would the tropical/equatorial regions will still be more fked from climate change than the temperate/polar areas?

I don't think the whole ASEAN/SEA including Singapore and far southern parts of China such as Hainan and other tropical/equatorial regions e.g. West-Central Africa and parts of East Africa, Persian Gulf e.g. Dubai, Indian subcontinent, Oceania/Pacific Islands, Amazon/most of Brazil/lowland Northern South America, Caribbean, Florida and Central America, etc. is safe long term due to heat waves, rising sea levels, wet bulb events, flash floods, droughts typhoons, earthquakes including tsunamis, crop failures, water shortages, mudslides, cyclones, famines, hurricanes, electric blackouts, warfare and conflict as a result of competition over resources and lands, resurgence of tropical diseases and parasites as the climate rapidly warms and modern healthcare and sanitation systems collapse.

Tourism in this country/ASEAN region in places like Phuket, Bali, Pattaya, Samui etc will likely no longer exist by later this century as heatwaves, rising sea levels, ocean acidification from rapid global temperature increase destroyed the region.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not glorifying the US or other much more Northern latitude places as being better than Thailand/SE Asia or other tropical/equatorial places in terms of overall safety during the fall of civilization and after, but I think climate wise, the former (the West) is still safer than the latter.

Hi, so this is a bit of a rant .I’ve been on this sub before and I usually see emphasis on things that aren’t doable for me as an 18 year old from a working class family. I live in an apartment so I cant start a garden, I don’t have the means to move out and even if I did I can’t live independently due to my autism.

I was wondering what things I could do to help prep myself or at the very least ease my anxiety? I grew up knowing that I wouldn’t have much of a future due to the climate crisis and now I just feel lost. I feel that anything I start is futile as I don’t have that long left. All my friends feel the same way but we won’t admit it to each other, we just try and act as if everything is fine since we grew up in this age of uncertainty; the pandemic, brexit, uk hitting 40 degrees etc.

First off, thanks for having this place, I feel a lot less crazy. Or more crazy, but it's at least comforting.

The assignment I'm supposed to be working on right now prompted this. Have to write a paper for a gen-ed and I'm sure you know where this is going. I've used AI (NotebookLm) to do work in the past, and it's great because it only uses the sources that you upload to it, and cites the exact locations in those sources of where it pulled everything. So no hallucinations. I do touch it up of course to make it sound like me, but it takes much less time.

The point is, everything feels pointless. Should I even care that the only thing separating people that have a degree, and don't, is that the "educated" person is just a glorified AI prompt engineer? I have a hard time justifying wasting what's left of my life for some bullshit degree that probably wouldn't pay off even if it weren't for the ongoing ecological collapse.

And no I can't enjoy my time, too busy trying (and failing) to protect myself from covid. I have zero family history of ADHD, but all of a sudden each of my siblings and I have it. And I have brain fog, tiredness, muscle spasms, and plenty more symptoms that have the grace to come and go every so often, rather than being chronic. It makes life so difficult since I don't even have the energy/patience to do the things I used to enjoy. Only thing I have the energy to do is lie in bed and daydream about the same shit everyday, procrastinating on all of the bullshit work I have to do for a degree (info sci) that won't save me from the climate/economic collapse. I'm just repeating myself at this point, but I feel like there's a joke somewhere. Using AI to complete a degree that doesn't matter anyway. And spending all of that time I saved by cheating, laying in bed because I don’t even have the energy to use that extra time to enjoy myself. Man fuck this.

I had a panic attack once when I thought about how fucked everything is. Made me wonder why I don’t keep a laminated set of survival instructions in a water proof binder. Basic things like what type of mushrooms/berries are safe to eat, how to purify water (look how Venice did it, it’s insane) to more complex things like alloys or carpentry. I feel like if the world ends and you aren’t prepared with this knowledge when we live in the Information Age, you’ve passed up an opportunity to provide meaningful value to society whether you make it or not.

I am trying to form a right-wing collapse support group in my local area. I've roped in my political leaning friends and we are meeting once a year. I am thinking of posting a poster about the group to anyone to be able to join it. I realize that right-wing people concerned about collapse is the most tiny of tiny minorities out there so finding like minded people is going to be hard. What should I put on a poster to attract such people to make them interested to join such a group? In terms of words or images.

Of note I am right-wing, but I am not conservative. I am fairly moderate on social issues.

I've been thinking a lot about life lately, and what type of unhealthy attachments I might have.

A lot of them come from childhood trauma since my parents have been brainwashing me that I must do something. I must attend church, school, get good grades, etc.

Another attachment is attachment to life. I must sustain my life at all costs, and that requires obtaining material possessions, even if that requires having a completely unethical job, so I can continue living when I no longer can work the same unethical job.

Prepping is in a way an unhealthy attachment to life. Doomsday bunkers are the most bizarre attachment in existence.

Our way of life is just a cult of unhealthy attachments and kids are raised in a way so they don't know any better.

I don't know what else to add, I'm going through some difficult times.

Ever since I got collapse-aware a few years ago it made me wonder if there were any youth that felt the same in my local area or country. I've been wanting to seek out others who get involved in mutual aid or co-ops and I've found some groups through researching but they mostly comprised of adults that may have already known each other from the start. I searched through my university's sites and found some environment-focused clubs but they don't seem to be active or have any links that lead to some external site. I don't mind trying to reach out to the already existing co-ops or associations but I don't think I'm confident enough to network that far since I'm only in uni and have so much to learn about the intricacies of larger degrowth associations, so I think I'm mostly comfortable with possibly creating a local youth-focused collapse support community, since I noticed that the younger generations feel especially isolated, helpless and lonely when it comes to modern collapse-related issues. I'm just not sure whether it's appropriate for me or if it's the right time/circumstance to create an in-person collapse community since it might already be hard enough for youth to meet up or use transportation services or take up their time/resources. But I thought that maybe in-person meetups could be helpful in reducing loneliness, I'm just not sure whether enough youth would be interested.

I've been feeling really down lately. I do try my best to help. I've done all the things you're supposed to do. I have a bike, rarely use my car, I eat less meat (cow specifically), I make a considerable effort to buy things second hand.

I just get so overwhelmed and it seems nothing I can do will help.

I almost had a pretty good cry because before football last night I walked a mile to my local Mexican restaurant. I ordered and I gave them a reusable bag to put my order in. Only to receive my order in the reusable bag - but my food in a plastic bag inside of it!!!! I almost walked home with a few tears because I honestly do try REALLY hard to make an effort. Only to be reversed and made meaningless over one plastic bag.

Is anyone else out there really hard on themselves like this? Do you sometimes say no to events because you think about the carbon impact of a 30 min drive like I do? Is there such thing as making too much of an effort - to a point where one plastic bag puts you down?

Recently I had a few interactions with people that completely wrecked my mental health. I can barely function right now.

It was bad in the past, but overall society has been in a far worse shape since 2020.

My frustration tolerance has gone down since I am isolating myself. I cannot function in a society where 99% are ignorant about collapse and carry on business as usual.

As collapse progresses, my low frustration tolerance will become an even bigger obstacle for basic functioning, People will run around like headless chickens when the reality of the situation sets in.

I feel powerless.

I've been thinking about the social and behavioural drivers of collapse. We know the mechanical causes of it - biodiversity and habitat loss, too much carbon generated by fossil fuels, etc., etc. But what about the human impulses that drive these mechanical causes?

It's much the same reason I've been thinking about economic systems. If humans evolved for cooperation and interdependence, what gave rise to feudalism, to capitalism, to economic systems that privilege an elite at the expense of the masses and the planet? I know these 2 examples of systems aren't the only ones: the gift economies of some Papuan cultures are another example that comes to mind. However those feel more like exceptions to the general rule. Elsewhere, was it just a handful of people with bad wiring? Was it the introduction of agriculture then sedentary communities? What can we say about those who allowed the selfish capture of the commons? Is the impulse for more - more things, more money, more growth - cultivated or inherent? Maybe there are clear scientific or historical arguments/explanations for this that I'm just not aware of, in which case please weigh in.

I'm conscious that questions of human nature are highly contentious and it's generally not a great idea to essentialise. But if self-interest, elite resource hoarding, exploitation of people and planet and violence are common throughout human history, even after apparent advancements in technology, QoL (for some, anyway), etc., then what conclusion can that bring us to other than a very cynical one regarding human nature? Really interested to hear other thoughts on this.

Hello again, friends. 25y/o full time college student, full time employee here.

I can't keep pretending to be ignorant and blind to the downfall of humanity and Earth's ecosystem. Every day I am reminded of how little I can actually do in the face of major corporations. My mother, who religiously recycles everything, going through the trash to sort out recyclables, asked me the other day if I've ever heard of Temu, she just "discovered" it. I explained that yes, I have heard of the slave-labor, ultra detrimental consumerist app, and she brushed me off saying "everything's slave labor these days, you never know". My coworker's extremely excited about the birth of her future granddaughter, meanwhile my state is actively petitioning to severely limit women's rights. (Missouri by the way, I live in a very red area and the amount of "No on Amendment 3! Protect women and children!" signs is disgusting. Keep politics/religion out of healthcare.) I wanted children of my own someday but the amount of animals predicted to be extinct by 2100 is staggering, how can we not see that we are in the sixth mass extinction event? The future will be full of crop failures, water wars, more mass extinction events, plus with depression being genetic I cannot morally put another human being through anything so horrible.

I am on medication and am searching for a new therapist, but I worry that the things I know can hurt people I tell them to. Either that or they will shut me up and not want to think about such things. I am extremely fortunate to have a partner that I can vent to, however I do very much worry about over-venting (even though they insist it's perfectly fine and would prefer to know rather than be left in the dark). My parents don't want to know, they can't know, they have too many responsibilities and are way too established in the system.

Nothing makes sense anymore and I feel so lost and confused and, rightfully, hopeless. I've always been a realist and being collapse-aware for the last 4 years has definitely taken its toll. I try not to look but I can't look away, I want to be as prepared as possible for whatever happens next. It's all so exhausting; I don't really know how to exist in this world.

I mentioned that I am in college, but I'm currently failing one class and have just been involuntarily dropped from another. It's just too much. I spend all my money because I know things won't be the same in the future and I feel I should just live it up now. I wanted to be a nurse for after SHTF, but I'm already so stressed I'm worried about my own safety. Should I drop out of college? Take more mental health time? My parents will hate me for it, and may even kick me out, but if it's what I really need I should, right?

(P.S - Mods, I posted a version of this a few days ago and it did get taken down but I've since edited out all of the possibly rule-breaking things, I just feel like I need support)

Edit - Clarification

What are some of the things that used to be omnipresent in your backyard that you no longer see and yearn for? The more specific the better.

Personally, I miss being able to turn over any rock and see it teaming with life. Worms, beetles, ants, and rollie pollies...I miss them all. The soil seems so sterile now, it's hard to find insects in most places.

I also miss the competition of bird songs, 25 to 30 years ago there was never just one or two species singing. You could walk down a city block and hear at least five or more chorusing in the spring or summer.

Not to mention flocks of birds being everywhere. It was so common to see clouds of them no matter where you went. Now, it seems like a rarity.

If only I knew to appreciate it more as a child.

I (40 f) have always had trouble making friends, so this could also just be a personal problem. But I do notice, with the few friends I have, we are always going though something. Often some unsolvable issues related to housing, mental health, money issues and trauma. I feel like in the last 4 years this has gotten a lot worse. When I reach out to others, it takes weeks for a response or people just dropping off. Most people I communicate with are 40+ unmarried, no kids, living with siblings or alone. When we do speak, the subject focus is often about systemic issues, collapse issues and long term feelings of despair. Or it's the complete opposite, with some people in my life that are far removed from the idea of collapse.

Is there a way to increase my own vitality and energy in the face of collapse, what are other people doing?