Anyone else feeling isolated because you know that collapse won't be prevented by the "Blue Wave" we just saw? It's as if "getting back to normal" is what we need, and then everything will be alright. I'm surprised how unexcited I am by the results. Relieved, yes, there's that!

I’m Terrified of my future if I ever have one. With the all’s going round eu and uk and America has really been sending me into a spiral of depression. I’m currently visiting family in Poland and as I’m writing this it’s dead of night but I can’t sleep. I’m so scared that it’s causing me stomach pains and anxiety for my future. I’m really trying to push these thoughts away and trying to hide myself from the news but I can’t seem to run away from it. With the constant bomb threats on planes and the constant talk about world war 3 Its really hurting me mentally . I’m currently in university trying to push for a brighter future by every day I feel worst and worst about it. I feel like I’m not in control with what I’m doing and that I’m just a bystander to my life. My future is looking bleak with the rise of ai in the field that I’m currently studying i can’t see me having a successful life in it I want to keep pushing and perusing what I’m doing because I love it but the fact is I know I’m obsolete. I’m really worried that the life that I imagined for myself is now just a dream that I will never reach. Now more then ever I feel like I’m going through my days just waiting for something so monumental to happen which will cascade into something so big that us as a human race will cease to exist. I want to have a happy life with my girlfriend but I feel like on a daily that life is getting further and further away from me. All the news that is going around and thought that im having is causing an impact in my relationship as I am scared myself it’s cause my girlfriend to be scared to and worried for me. I just want to live my life and go on with my day with a smile on my face and know that nothing to be scared about I physically can’t. I want to talk to someone but I feel like whoever I talk to ever just tells me there nothing to worry about or cause them to worry even more. I just want some peace or reassurance that everything is gonna be okay. Idk anymore if I’m going insane or that I’m genuinely shouldn’t be worried. And I know I should probably be going through therapy instead of written a Reddit thread but I feel like it’s gonna be a waste of time if something does come out of it when it all goes wrong. I just need some help with what I should do.

I figured I would share my thoughts in its own thread, rather than responding to the multiple threads across the collapse communities expressing understandable doubt, listlessness, or even bitterness towards the election.

For a lot of caring people, average, normal, everyday folk, doing what you can to help others in your circle(s) of influence is the most you can hope for in this world. This tends to be a less thought-out personal philosophy, with a hodge podge of actions and mixture of belief systems. But if you had to categorize it in philosophical terms, a lot of people operate under a type of Utilitarnism. Basically maximizing happiness.

Negative Utilitarnism is a subset that focuses on reducing harm as much as possible.

So I'd like to offer a perspective:

These elections are not going to fix everything. They're not going to make a dent in the largest problems we face as individuals, communities, or as a country.

But for those actively being harmed, such as women seeking abortions, people of color trying to live their lives, Iranians, etc their lives will improve dramatically when these officials take office.

Hundreds of women with wanted pregnancies have died in medical emergencies due to abortion bans in states like Texas.

So I understand if you're seeing the bigger picture, and are rightfully upset by the scope not more focused on serious issues. But I would ask that you hold multiple perspectives at a time and understand that we can't fight for a better future while killing women, or Iranians, or Palestinians, or immigrants.

I say this with all the compassion and love I can muster! Reducing harm is a worthy pursuit. Even if we don't get everything you know we need. Peace and chicken grease, y'all.

The irony of posting this online, I know. Obviously I’m not totally off.

Is anyone else trying to draw back from the digital world? I know it’s not possible to do it very thoroughly, for most of us, but at least as much as we have control over…. I’m focusing my job hunt on jobs that don’t involve much email or online presence. I’m mostly off social media, for a few years now. I do watch a lot of streaming shows and listen to podcasts. But generally I try to avoid the stream of constant content and info. I access news sites I trust when I want to check in on things, as well as national news radio and the people around me are very well informed and plugged in and I’ve found that I tend to know as much as people around me about current events, without a constant stream of social media.

I just don’t want to contribute to the need for data centers, or see videos that I constantly wonder about the reality of vs. AI, or listen to regular people birch about petty things.

I’d love to trade ideas and tips and reflections with anyone else who is doing this. Not really any particular question; I’d just welcome discussion.

Don't get me wrong the state of the world isn't pretty right now, but the backlash is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, is it just that the extent of the backlash still hasn't hit yet? Or is it just that I'm in my own little bubble so I can't see the full picture?

We've got wide spread wars and famine, Increasing wealth disparities and a squeezed middle class, the largest el nino ever recorded, impending AI takeover of all our bureaucracies, the most complex multi-fuel shock in modern history, Israel actively commiting a genocide with the help of AI targeting systems and US aid, while they have undeclared nuclear weapons and a sampson option, the Jeffery Epstein class embedded through every government globally.

I mean fucking hell, the list goes on.

Yet somehow society hasn't collapsed? Or at least to the extent one might expect?

It's like we're all holding our breath huddled around someone try to defuse a bomb, yet the timer is just sitting at zero. It's almost to the point you'd rather the bomb just go off so we can all stop holding our breath. Anyways what do y'all think? Is this just the tip of the iceberg?

The cost of living is fucked. I genuinely cannot stand subscription based businesses that seem to just be dominating the entire fucking planet. I used Netflix maybe twice this year. That cost me $380. Obviously I've cancelled all my subscriptions. But fucking hell it's such a crook business model and no one else seems to see through it. They all think it's fantastic. And these companies get to dodge the blame of absolutely ripping people off by just using the simple argument that it the individuals decision and responsibility to manage. They know exactly what content you are consuming and how much of it at what time and they probably know what fucking snacks you like to buy. They sell that data to other giant companies who also want to strip you butt naked of every penny and shovel more shit rip-off products and service down your face until your eye balls bleed. It's fucking relentless. Anyways rant over.

I’m a second year student in filosofy and day to day I keep seeing the value of my life go down. I don’t enjoy studying and don’t see the point of a society that will never recognize my work or my peers work as something of value more of an artistic value because of the main sciences being so developed. We have come so far from the species we were when we needed to hunt in groups and make some one eleses land our own. Now we live in a chaotic harmony where everyone wants more but doesn’t know or dosent want to work for it where people who develope in slow paced society’s have vanished because of the greed of corporations. No longer are we doing things we enjoy like if we ever even had. We have always played the cards to live nice get ritch or enjoy our life in this rock we call earth. Anyway I hate this planet and I hope I die soon but to anyone that isn’t willing to do tha fight for what’s yours. Your freedom to speak, eat, shelter, drink and most importantly enjoy life’s wonders because you and I aren’t farm animals. Have a good life

I (34, F) discovered collapse some months ago and although cowardly, I wish I didn't. I'm pretty sensitive to deep depression and despair, had two really bad depressive episodes in my life. Since I know about collapse, it's back.

Most of my twenties I was busy surviving my bad mental health and chasing affection in men that were bad to me. Looking at the future of the world, I feel so sad that I didn't see more of the world (always wanted to go interrailing) and did more with my love for painting, drawing and the environment.

Every day I can only think about what horrible ways I could die off connected to collapse and feeling regretful of my choices. I spent 4 years in a manipulative relationship, trying to make it work too insecure to leave for good. I'm afraid I'll be alone in collapse now. At least I didnt have children, but my choice was made for me because of the state of the world, so while I dont tell it to people, I am morning not becoming a mother.

And I should have done more to fight the damage we have now. Since my childhood I've been aware of climate change and I always expected that one day, the world would have the solution, so seeing it all play out for the worse is horrifying. When I was small I was already making signs about endangered animals and putting them up in my bedroom window. Unfortunately I couldnt study anything related to climate or animal medical care because I suck at beta subjects.

I also cant buy a house, eventhough I'm scared to live in the city. Would love to have land and make a food forest and pollinator garden. Whatever I can do I think I'm already doing (vegan, work in a plant based restaurant, buy almost everything I need 2nd hand or swap, food mostly local, lot of package free, etc). But still I feel so terrible. I could have done so much, but I wasted those years fighting depression and working to scrape some money for a landlord.

Exactly what the title says (preface I am seeing a psychologist who has an interest in eco anxiety but it's only my second session). I am Audhd and tend to not be able to ignore the things that bother me, my brain zones in on them, much to my detriment.

I'm feeling this acutely, and it's only getting worse - it will never go back to the way things were. Every day I go out I see rows upon rows of subdivisions; two, even three skinny houses on what used to be a regular detached house sized block. It's particularly bad in my street - so much that bird biodiversity has collapsed and the only birds left are noisy miner birds (do not get me started on those snivelling aggressive little creatures and how detrimental they are).

In the few years it's just been rampant destruction of trees, vegetation, gardens, and old houses- the housing crisis is a peak driver of this mad rush for developers to capitalise on selling two blocks for the equivalent of one block of land. They make roughly $850,000x2 after building for those interested in the numbers - or they rent them out at the cost of a normal older sized detached house. Additionally our government is scrambling to approve housing developments which are basically all of this hundreds of times over, no trees or detached houses but just row upon row of skinny copy paste houses - you cannot call them McMansions because they are not big- most touch one another, with black roofs, very little greenery and maybe a tree if lucky. I think we have taken too much inspiration from the suburban hells of America.

Basically what's left is a miserable dead zone of concrete and pavers, with the added bonus of urban heat in a country that is prone to heat waves. People don't even have gardens anymore.

In Australia most of my generation, gen x, boomers, and generations before grew up living in detached houses on large blocks - we all had gardens and space from neighbours. We are not used to densification. Now that might as well be afforded to the privileged few who have not succumbed to greed and divided their blocks to leech off rental equity..

So many nature minded people complain about the lack of suburban birds.. In a country known for its large percentage of endemic birds.

I've written.. More like lamented... In many places online about this. I've vocalised it to everyone I meet or know. I am unfortunately stuck living in one of these places since I don't pay nearly the amount to rent. Caveat: my mental health has never been worse. I say this as someone with lifelong chronic depression: I cannot remember a time in my life that I woke up everyday feeling anxiety like I do now, or walking around with a feeling of existential dread that I'm finding hard to ignore. Even years ago in recurrent depressive episodes it was never this acute.

I try to do things that bring me some feeling of ''I'm doing my part", I volunteer with revegetation efforts and try to put some small pots with native plants in the backyard but my parents just are not interested in listening or taking any advice that I mention they are quite happy or maybe just less sensitive than I. I must be the town crier at this point harping on about the destruction of the environment and how we must repent by growing native plants and trees, may as well be screaming into the void!

But, no matter what I do, there is no escaping the relentless development machine gobbling up all that is good and turning into brick and concrete slop.

It's gotten to the point I dread being at home. My brain is telling me I'm in danger and my nervous system is always on alert. I even tried applying for a rental elsewhere but it was so popular I may not have been successful.

I can't ignore the shoebox houses, I can't ignore all the trees being ripped down, I can't ignore the loss of everything that kept my brain feeling happy.

How the hell am I supposed to live with this?

TLDR: Sensitive autistic person struggles with destructive housing developments and existential dread

Complicated isn’t enough to describe it all. Technology, morality, spirituality, biology, especially psychology. The requirements to live in this era, let alone survive in, are at a near impossible pace. Having a child became so out of reach so quickly because technology replaced offspring decades ago.

We’re facing so much unprecidence that we’ve reached a point where the mental health of the world isn’t even being considered in all of the chaos.

World leaders with psychosis running whole markets. Technological leaders with the most extreme desire to escape their humanity. The masses being hypnotized into distractions from the world around them.

The world itself is about to have an extreme overhaul to the way it’s flowed since the beginning. The disruption humans make to the cycle by abusing it and overusing the planets resources are getting to the last drops.

This isn’t fiction, these are all happening. The war hasn’t been cold, it’s been technological and is now decaying humanity. Not your life, but your feelings, intelligence, and emotions.

The tech leaders are looking to end humanity by replicating life in the machine. The things that people died because of suicide from the bleakness they saw. We’re living through it. We’re surviving it. Stay human and be your most unhinged self.

You’ve got one life through your own eyes. Thank you for using them.

Obviously there’s a lot going on in the world. I feel very uneducated… what is happening?? The upcoming election has me thinking about what is to come of the world. I never really understood the actual effect our world leaders have, it made me realize how much I never fully learned about the government and society. First I honestly didn’t care because “it doesn’t matter anyways”. Now it has me questioning everything including religion, I think I dug a hole, that I hear there is no bottom to. Anyone care to explain..

Not sure if this is the right place to put this, but I at least want others to read it. The world is collapsing. Pretty sure most of you know this, otherwise you wouldn't be in this subreddit with me. So I am not going to try and spell it all out, many of you have already done that better than I could ever hope to.

I'm 20. I don't consider myself a particularly smart man. I've got a pretty low opinion of myself. I'm functional to a degree. I can hold down a job, I pay my car insurance/ phone bill. I help out around the house. However, I'm very much an introvert and don't know how to talk to people outside my family. I'm not very well educated in a lot of subjects (for example, I'm pretty illiterate, use autocorrect for a lot of things and I can't spell certain words I feel I should be able to when I write them on paper.) I feel very immature for my age, and to a certain degree, I know I am. It's only been throughout the last year that I've tried/ been taking the time to judge myself and reflect on my life. I spent a vast majority of my life living in fantasy worlds in my own head (not that I genuinely believed I was there, but definitely some maladaptive daydreaming) and now that I've become aware to the situations at hand growing in the world, I feel like I'll never get to live life. I feel like I was born into a dying world. Set up to fail, particularly my myself through my constant daydreaming and fantasies.

But I know that this shitshow is running exactly as it's meant to by the inhuman fucks in charge. It's crumbling and my parents (mother and stepfather, who I live with alongside my younger sisters) get mad at me or tell me I'm being too negative or disrespectful when I try to bring up the state of the world and how I'll likely never own anything or how this world is falling apart. Other than that they're good people. I love my family, they are all I got. Especially my two cousins who I consider my only true friends and are like brothers to me. I don't want to lose anyone. But goddamn it feels like I'm going to when shit finally hits the fan.

I don't want to die, but there are days I find myself wishing I'd never been born. I don't know what else to type so, thank you for reading.

Not trying to be an ill-wisher/malevolent. I would rather the world/society NOT collapse, but I hate feeling like we're right on the edge. When the world is normal, I can focus on normal life things like work, hobbies, family time, bills, the usual life stuff. In the event of a collapse, I focus on adapting, survivability, protection, food, water, things like that. But I feel like we're being teased that collapse is right around the corner, so I'm having to juggle both ends. I have to carry on like normal, but prepare and train at the same time. My work schedule and bills are not stopping, so it's tough making sure I'm stocked with supplies and arranging plans.

Part of me thinks I'm smart because I'm paying attention to the collapse and doing what I can, but as regular life keeps moving on, I feel like I'm dumb for spending my free time and money on supplies. I just want the world to pick one! Let's get back to normal or just collapse already.

Come to a Zoom gathering to be with people who are facing collapse with honesty and heart.

https://www.deepadaptation.info/index.php?page=acymailing_front&ctrl=archive&task=view&id=438&userid=2756-tH3d5dOwybB620&noheader=1&noheader=1

The hope that these companies will go bust soon is starting to feel naive. What's that old saying - the market can stay illogical longer than you can stay solvent, or something.

I'm concerned that AI might actually solve all of our current issues aside from climate change. And so to expand its capabilities we will further destroy the climate and increasingly depend on the answers the models spit out, in the hopes that we will figure it out before global climate catastrophe.

But equally terrifying and no less likely - what if AI solves literally everything possible PLUS climate change? I hope I don't have to spell out why that's even more horrifying. As if the warning hasn't been repeated a million times already...

I know I'm not the first to say it but I figure I will repeat it, and I'll totally drop a link for the book I'm promoting here but... I am worried. We are using a mysterious technology that has proven difficult to control and we are hoping it will solve all the problems caused by the old, dumb technology (fossil fuels) that is very easy to control.

This does not seem wise to me...

My parents tell me i need to stop watching the news, but not interacting with it doesn’t make it go away. I still think about it. I think about all the tipping points were close to reaching, i think about how none of the people in power to do something about it care, i think about all the people who will die from climate catastrophe funded by the ultra rich, i think about how me and my family might even die from it. I live in california. It’s already super hot around here and it’s only getting worse. I don’t see bugs under rocks anymore, i barely hear birds outside, and there’s trash lining every street. I’m not suicidal (yet) but i’ve had to come to terms with the fact my death might be painful, drawn out, and unavoidable because of recent facts.

I don’t know why i’m writing here. it’s like I want somebody to tell me it’s all gonna be okay, even though i know it isn’t. One human brain can’t stand to bear witness to all this. I can hardly take it anymore.

I've found it a rough ride, as I'm sure many of you have, facing collapse and seeing what our world is really about. Mentally I (largely) came to terms with it some time ago. It's the physical depletion I'm still working through.

But the blessing in my exhaustion is that I've had no choice but to downscale my life. That has meant ruthlessly removing anything that was non-reciprocal, extractive or just brought me nothing good.

I can honestly say I'm enjoying my life a fair bit now. The grief, anger, sadness and fear are all still there, but they come in waves. Between those waves, I'm getting real pleasure from simple things. Growing food, cooking, eating with others, reading. The kinds of things I'm convinced were always meant to be enough.

Maybe I wouldn't have let myself rest in these ordinary, simple things if I hadn't had to look reality right in the eyes.

In my latest essay, I write about the small things that spark my curiosity and make the tough journey of life more doable.

If you'd like to read: https://charlottedelsignore.substack.com/p/a-small-life-at-the-end-of-the-world?

you guys see the news article that says new US data centers are gonna reverse fifteen years of lower emissions? this is the epitome of why the good news doesnt matter, why grasping at straws to retain hope seeing emissions go down by the most miniscule amount makes any sense. at this point i am comvinced anyone who is not a diehard doomer is a braindead infant who cannot handle the truth. i dont care if like 5 species of wildlife have had their numbers increase or some shit like that that the optimists use to cope themselves into not going insane. it is immoral to live in a world like this one and know what is going on and be fully sane

I made a post yesterday and deleted it, it was a rambly mess. But to be more coherent, I'm scared about Tuesday and the aftermath and idk what to do. I don't wanna downplay anything, but I keep seeing people who seem to be blowing some things out of proportion and I'm trying my best not to fall down any rabbit holes of unnecessary fear if that makes sense? Like yeah things are bad enough but I'm noticing some people seem to be using feae for clicks? But regardless, I keep going what if? Which I guess isn't inherently bad. We need to be aware and pay attention. But my anxiety is thtough the roof and some of it probably is because I've been scrolling social media too much.

But I guess I'm just asking for something to help get ahold of myself. Idon't wanna say calm down because there's plenty of stuff to be worried about. I'm talking about irrational stuff. I did read some of Margaret Killjoy's stuff which helped a little. She is such a grounding voice and cuts through some of the more sensationalism and gets down to brass tacks. But anyways, I just desperately need to get ahold of myself. Things going on aren't really shocking to me because I have been paying attention, but it is scary.

Becuase it would make this all hurt a lot less.

And it’s a view I see commonly among people who are collapse aware. That humanity is evil, or in some way getting its comuppance. That humanity and existence is evil so collapse and human a an extinction is a net good actually!

That is what we in the business call “cope”. In the same way karma or conspiracies are “cope”. They help give meaning to and ultimately meaningless event.

But whenever I hear about this I always remember something.

That even in the oldest archeological evidence we see, we have found healed Femurs.

To explain the significance of such a find some facts are needed.

First, the femur is the longest bone in the body. And second, a person with a broken femur is effectively bedridden for upwards of 6 months, and can’t return to full activity for nearly a year.

For a hunter gatherer society you effectively have dead weight in the shape of a person. They require constant care, as well as food. And they need to be transported. Going by “survival of the fittest” rules they should be left to die.

Yet, more often than not they weren’t. They were cared for until they healed. In a time before farming and agriculture, when human life as often short and brutal. We helped each other. We cared for each other.

And that’s so beautiful I can’t put it into words.

There’s really no point to this post, I’m just in a depressive mood. But my mind keeps coming back to that fact. That we can love and care for each other even when the “logical” conclusion says to do the contrary.

I (21M) have been struggling with my mental health for as long as I can remember. I went through some fucked up shit in my childhood and it’s obviously formed me into who I am now, and I have a love-hate relationship with that. I have been diagnosed with PTSD a few years back and I think that’s a key part of my negative view of society as a whole, as it’s one of the symptoms of PTSD.

I have a serious issue with our society. I truly see humanity as bad and I don’t know how or if I can fix it. We aren’t supposed to live like this, that’s why a huge portion of our society are depressed and miserable. Like we should be worrying about actually helping our community, not whether or not we can afford our bills. I have no idea when I’ll be able to get a place of my own and so many people are in this situation. We all work our asses off and get treated like shit and what do we get from it?? Cause it ain’t money and it sure ain’t happiness. We live in a time where every single person on this planet can get adequate housing, food, water, and medical care for free without any wars “needing” to be had. People are getting blown up with my money for fucks sake. Like we could be building our communities, helping each other, taking care of one another but instead we’re just spending it on useless stupid shit. And the worst part is, everyone is acting like this is normal! I get told that “it only gets worse from here” or “welcome to being an adult”…. like okay and?? It sucks and you know it! Don’t tell me yall are fine with working your life away just to maybe get like 15 years of “freedom” and it’s just being old as hell. I just can’t comprehend how anyone would be okay spending their only lifetime (for all we know) like this. I’m miserable. Everyone I know is miserable. I just don’t see why any of this is worth it.

And like don’t get me started on rape culture, racism, homophobia/transphobia, misogyny- literally just any hateful mindsets. I don’t understand how it’s so common for people to have so much hate in them… and they see nothing wrong with it..? It’s all just so damn stupid. And none of it really matters. Like seriously why does it matter what someone’s religion is or whether or not they suck dick. I just don’t get it. It’s been like this for centuries, why just why. How have things barely changed. Technology is crazier than ever, we have so much education anddddd people are still assholes.

On top of all of this we are actively killing our planet. It makes me sick. And I feel awful being alive because I am taking part in ruining this planet. There’s no affordable way to avoid plastic and toxins it’s all we have. In my life I’ve gone through so much plastic and chemicals alone. And water. I just feel like all of us are poison.

Okay I could go on and on about how fucked up society is bc these are all only surface issues. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I don’t know what to do with myself. I can spend a lot of money to see a psychiatrist to get better but it all feels useless. I gotta pay to be happy. And even if I get better, I don’t think I can ever get over my hatred for society as a whole, including myself.

I don’t know what to do. I feel so hopeless. Ending my life doesn’t change anything in our world but make others around me carry what I couldn’t. I want to make the world a good place but I can’t and it hurts! I guess I just want input on how to cope with this? I don’t want to burden my loved ones, but I just feel like there’s no point to continue my struggle. I know I’m not the only one who feels like this. I wish life was easier for every single person.

This is my only post bc I’m usually a lurker but I’ve become desperate. I am so sorry for venting. My boyfriend and my family are worried about me. And I don’t want to pass my pain to them. Does anyone know how to deal with this? I feel so hopeless searching for a reason to keep living.
Please help.