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Do you suffer from Vystopia? Perhaps you’ve never even heard of the term? Is there a cure for it?
We discuss this and so much more with our special guest, vegan psychologist and author, Clare Mann.
Clare has been heavily involved in the Australian vegan and animal rights scene for many years now, and most recently she uploaded a semi-viral video on Facebook about what she calls “Vystopia ”. This got our attention and we thought it would make for a fascinating topic to discuss and share with our audience.
Sure enough, it was an incredibly stimulating and thought provoking conversation that even exceeded our expectations, and offers our audience many great insights, tips, and strategies with which to feel empowered. We hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.
References
Clare Mann, Vegan Psychologist
Vegan Voices (free app with resources and support for talking about veganism with non-vegans)
Instrumental music produced by Chuki
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I found this so helpful and I have to thank you. This was such a rich conversation! I’m recently experiencing this feeling of dystopia and I’m struggling.. a few days ago I watched “chasing corals” on netflix which made me cry and grief for for hours fo the dying corals. It’s really hard to accept that many people don’t experience the same sensibility as me concerning animal’s lives. After listening to this I feel more motivated to finish my environmental sciences studies at Uni and become more active to fix and improve this and a lot more animal-cruelty related issues we have in this crazy world. So many topics and arguments you and the guest presented are just so enlightening! Excellent podcast ?
I learned so much from that conversation. Totally mind blowing. I will soon be going back in to counselling and I am already worried about the reaction I will get when I eventually talk about being vegan and activism – if only I could see Clare, haha! Great work guy’s as always <3
Very interesting episode! I’ve never heard anyone discuss veganism from psychological side like that. I’ve been vegan for more than a year now, and I’ve always felt like I should do more to raise the awareness but having a very non confronting personality, it’s been very difficult. I do want to change my personality though, it just doesn’t happen over night. Just put up my first vegan recipe on YouTube last week, happy to have taken the first steps towards spreading the word further than just in my household ^^
Wow this is spot on. First few months of being vegan I felt extremely alone, isolated on such a deep level. This is the explanation.
Glad to hear it resonated with you Celeste. Thanks for listening and commenting 🙂
Wow guys… I just listened to this episode… what can I say… I will have a very difficult conversation with my parents today. It’s not necessarily about veganism or my veganism, it’s more about our family problems in general (although my veganism is a big part of this from my parent’s point of view). I lay awake last night not knowing how I will handle it. Now I know! The key is to ask questions – so simple, so good. “What is it like for you to hear you say that?” I wrote this question down, surely will use it. Thank you Clare, thank you Natasha, thank you Luca!!!! Keep up the good work!!!!! Much love from Germany
We know we speak for Clare when we say you’re welcome Tascha and we’re thrilled that we could help you in some way. Much love from us all xo
Clare is so intelligent and such a lovely lady, we are so lucky to have her advocating for our animal friends. i can so relate to the conversation you had Natasha with your family, exactly the same thing with my family. I came to the conclusion that to remain friends with my sister then talking about veganism is out of bounds, but like you the conversation can just go in that direction. My sister sent me photos yesterday of a day trip she just had at a zoo with her grandchildren, I felt she was being insensitive to send photos taken at the zoo, if I was to reply to the photos and explain the cruelty involved with zoos then an argument would happen and our relationship would end. Very hard not being able to say how I feel about the photos, but if I was to do so I know we would fall out. On the weekend I attended the first vegan markets here in Sydney, it was such a buzz to be around so many vegans, I was on such a high. Then last night I did a cube of truth and I struggled with a couple of bystanders and their negativity, I’ve felt so down since. i love that Clare says it’s a righteous anger we display, it validates us vegans getting upset. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this podcast guys, thanks so much for sharing. Sorry for the long comment ✌
Thank you for the long comment! We hear, feel, and agree with you Brenda on everything you’ve expressed here. Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us and others here as always. Much love xo
The world is much richer with your engagement. This alone is a little cure for vegan sadness. Love you!
Aww, that’s so sweet Anne, thank you ?
Thank You!
You’re welcome! Thank you for listening and commenting ?
I really enjoyed this episode, and though it has been a few weeks after its published, I am continuously troubled by feelings of anger and hopelessness, being a new vegan in a non-vegan world. It was interesting and inspiring for Clare to provide a psychological perspective on the complex emotions felt by vegans, and I would like to ask if she can provide any advice on how to deal with these stressful emotions when you have no one around you that you can talk to. For example, while I am solo-travelling, I often encounter depressing situations where the local culture exploits animals as way of tradition that I don’t really have anyone around me to let out this frustration. Sometimes it might be one small thing that I see and it would bother me for the rest of the day, making it difficult to appreciate my travels. Today I was in a shop trying on some jeans, and I realised that although the material tag didn’t suggest any animal materials, the bit that they printed their brand clearly resembles leather (why???). I tried asking the shop assistant whether she can confirm that it is leather, but she gave me a look which revealed that she has no idea why it would be a big deal. I ended up walking out of the shop, but the fact that there wasn’t anyone I could speak this to became quite frustrating. Obviously this is a question relevant for Natasha and Luca as well, so if possible I would love to hear if there’s any advice, or even psychological method to relieve some of these negative feelings! Thanks a lot, and really appreciate these insightful podcasts!
Amazing. Just amazing.
Will definitely take some of these tips on board.
So glad you enjoyed the episode and found it helpful Kim, thanks for listening and commenting.
Hi Natasha and Luca- I am in the process of reading Vystopia and had to go all the way back to this one to hear your podcast with Claire Mann. I stopped consuming animals around 10 years ago, was veggie before vegan, and I have evolved to a point where I am having a lot of difficulty relating to people on a deep level, feel anger, frustration, depression- you name it. My husband and littles are vegan and I would love to live in my little bubble here at home. Not possible, of course!
I am active for the animals and have been for years. Since the Animal Rights March in NYC this past August, I’ve really stepped it up, however. I’ve done a Cube of Truth, protests, a couple of vigils and disruptions. I feel empowered doing all of this✊🏼. At the end of the day, however, I am in literal tears at what the animals are enduring every second of every day.
I hope reading Vystopia helps me. It is such a difficult world for empaths to live in. And so hard to understand how others are so apathetic.
Thank you for this podcast- I truly got a lot out of it. Much love to you both ❤️🙏🏼🌱.
Hi Jessica, you’re most welcome for the episode, and thank you for listening and commenting. Let’s just say this: we feel you. Glad to hear that at least activism empowers you, and we hope that reading Vystopia also helps you 🖤