Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis
My new book - out now
Hello!
If you’ve been reading Gen Dread for a while, you’ll know that I’ve referenced the book I’ve been working on for the last few years about facing the storm of climate emotions and what diverse forms of coping - individually and collectively - can look like. It is finally almost here - coming in May. The next edition of the Gen Dread newsletter will be diving deep into what it means to guide emotionally intelligent climate conversations with the pioneering environmental psychologist Renee Lertzman. Until then, I wanted to share some info with you about Generation Dread the book, a project that broke my heart and then put it back together again. Here’s some of what people have said so far:
“The climate future can look bleak, and alarming, but those aren’t the only ways to relate to it—or the only ways we will live through and experience it. Generation Dread is a marvelous exploration of many of the divergent, sometimes contradictory, sometimes paradoxical, but always human ways in which we navigate the effects of climate change, with ideas for how we might do so more productively and healthily in the future.” —David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth
“Dr. Britt Wray doesn’t ever look away from the hard emotional truths of the climate crisis. But it’s also exactly from this scary place that she is able to help us manifest something we all desperately need nowadays: strength. Generation Dread is a vital and deeply compelling read.” —Adam McKay, award-winning writer, director and producer (Vice, Succession, Don’t Look Up)
“In this intriguing and engaging work, Britt Wray explores the internal ecology of climate anxiety with insight and sensitivity. She shows finally that meaningful living is possible even in the face of that which threatens to extinguish life itself, and that addressing global climate change begins with attending to the climate within.” —Dr. Gabor Maté, author of When the Body Says No
“What a gift. Generation Dread meets the unsettled soul with kinship and insight. In these brimming pages, Britt Wray guides us through the interior and interpersonal landscape of the climate crisis, helping us find a grounded, collective path forward in our tangled time.” —Dr. Katharine K. Wilkinson, climate strategist and co-editor of All We Can Save
ABOUT GENERATION DREAD
An impassioned generational perspective on how to stay sane amid climate disruption.
Climate and environment-related fears and anxieties are on the rise everywhere. As with any type of stress, eco-anxiety can lead to lead to burnout, avoidance, or a disturbance of daily functioning.
In Generation Dread, Britt Wray seamlessly merges scientific knowledge with emotional insight to show how these intense feelings are a healthy response to the troubled state of the world. The first crucial step toward becoming an engaged steward of the planet is connecting with our climate emotions, seeing them as a sign of humanity, and learning how to live with them. We have to face and value eco-anxiety, Wray argues, before we can conquer the deeply ingrained, widespread reactions of denial and disavowal that have led humanity to this alarming period of ecological decline.
It’s not a level playing field when it comes to our vulnerability to the climate crisis, she notes, but as the situation worsens, we are all on the field—and unlocking deep stores of compassion and care is more important than ever. Weaving in insights from climate-aware therapists, critical perspectives on race and privilege in this crisis, ideas about the future of mental health innovation, and creative coping strategies, Generation Dread brilliantly illuminates how we can learn from the past, from our own emotions, and from each other to survive—and even thrive—in a changing world.
Orders available everywhere books are sold, just search ‘Generation Dread’ + your country.
Here’s some North American links:
US https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/647141/generation-dread-by-britt-wray/'
Canada https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/647141/generation-dread-by-britt-wray/9780735280724
Thank you dear readers!
Sending joy,
Britt
Waiting for the book on Audible. Curious if it will address anxiety towards cascading risks from very separate fields and how there may be some complex interplay which helps some people. Obviously it may make things worse for some psychologically. For instance, I used to be stressed about the "impossibility" of infinity as a middle-schooler however when I lost faith in my simplified version of Christianity, the concept of infinity and the concept of "oneness" from some forms of Mahayana Buddhism comforted me. It's fascinating to watch the anxiety of existential risk from climate change be set against the incredible hype around the existential risk of general artificial intelligence. Recently, I cope by musing that perhaps an AI/machine/human hybrid future will better be able to align complex systems interests better than a human future alone and this hybrid future may make us more resilient as well. With this, I gain a sense of optimism and adventure for my 4 year old to explore this new wondrous world. I know its a biased techno-utopian perspective but it helps me sleep at night and we definitely have evidence that sleep is important for mental health. :)
Your book is absolutely great, thanks for doing all the research and writing it! As I live in Germany, I'd love to share it with my German friends who don't read English so well. Is there a German translation being planned? If so, when would it come out?