Anouchka Grose’s guide is not a self-help manual in the traditional sense. Instead, it treats the unease and dread triggered by the climate crisis as a rational, even healthy, response to the unfolding planetary emergency. Her central claim is both bracing and consoling: that anxiety can be a compass, pointing toward what we value and what we must protect.

Drawing on her psychoanalytical background, Grose examines the emotional landscape of the climate emergency: grief, “pre-traumatic stress,” denial, burnout. Each, she suggests, has a role. Grief acknowledges loss, anticipatory trauma warns us of risk, and anger can catalyse action. Left unspoken, however, these emotions can stagnate into paralysis. Naming them, and allowing space for them, is part of what makes resilience possible.

The book doubles as a manifesto for grounded engagement. Grose explores how to talk honestly about climate change with children, how to resist the paralyzing pull of denial, and why life needn’t be measured in constant happiness. Guilt, too, is dismantled: she urges readers to drop the corrosive habit of self-blame and instead embrace “radical friendliness,” an ethic that blends realism with compassion. She is sceptical of simplistic binaries—veganism versus flying, plastic reduction versus political action—arguing instead for a layered approach that encourages sustainable forms of activism that avoid burnout and nurture solidarity. Candid, witty, and often irreverent, Grose offers a way to transform anxiety into collective energy, protecting both the planet and our psyches.