As someone with an anxiety disorder I can be forced to disengage from certain causes if the activists are so emotive it makes me miserable, eg the way climate change activism emphasises "THIS IS BAD! REALLY!!" over ways we can fix it.
Yes, absolutely. When I was involved in environmental activism I went to a workshop one time about effective campaigning. The workshop talked about "problems-campaigning" and "solutions-campaigning" and about how different people respond to different types of messages (eg. "Stop the whaling!" vs "Save the whales!"). That particular organisation was moving very much towards solutions-campaigning, which I personally find far far more effective. In climate change terms that meant promoting alternative energy sources instead of campaigning against fossil fuels, for example.
This post also got me thinking about my own anger when I get angry on my own behalf (instead of angry on behalf of some other group of people who I empathise with but don't belong to). I realised that I often get so angry that I can't deal with the emotional overwhelm and have to completely disengage in order to maintain my own mental health and wellbeing. Which is why I don't really do any activism on topics that affect me personally.
no subject
Yes, absolutely. When I was involved in environmental activism I went to a workshop one time about effective campaigning. The workshop talked about "problems-campaigning" and "solutions-campaigning" and about how different people respond to different types of messages (eg. "Stop the whaling!" vs "Save the whales!"). That particular organisation was moving very much towards solutions-campaigning, which I personally find far far more effective. In climate change terms that meant promoting alternative energy sources instead of campaigning against fossil fuels, for example.
This post also got me thinking about my own anger when I get angry on my own behalf (instead of angry on behalf of some other group of people who I empathise with but don't belong to). I realised that I often get so angry that I can't deal with the emotional overwhelm and have to completely disengage in order to maintain my own mental health and wellbeing. Which is why I don't really do any activism on topics that affect me personally.