Permission to Nuke The Whales

One of the traps that I think some of my clients (and even myself, to be honest) can get caught up in is that generally we want to do the right thing, and that sometimes we want to do the right thing so much that it becomes deleterious to our overall well-being and daily functioning. I think this is especially true if one has a chronic disease, disability, condition, or illness.

For instance, if you have a disability that makes lifting and moving difficult, and you really want to recycle…but the act of recycling causes your kitchen to fill up with plastic bottles because you don’t have the physical strength or energy (or spoons) to bring the bags down on recycling day once a week (or once every other week)…and then you find yourself constantly falling over bags of recycling in your kitchen, then is recycling really your best option? In this case I advise my clients to give themselves permission to nuke the whales and throw the bottles out with their regular garbage.

Sometimes depression makes it hard to clean up the litter box. Who wants to use disposable litter trays? They’re bad for the Earth, it’s wasteful, you’re throwing out aluminum or plastic each week…all of that’s true. That said, a kitty litter box that’s overflowing is bad for a client’s health, can contribute to a greater feeling of depression (due to the smell/mess/’failure’ to take care of something), and the kitty won’t be happy either. So what’s better in this case? Personally, I think giving yourself permission to nuke the whales and go for the disposable kitty litter trays.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle…always sound advice. Paper plates, plastic forks, spoons, and knives: who needs em? Just more petroleum based products in our landfills. However, if your chronic illness, disability, depression, mental illness has you living with a kitchen sink full of dishes all the time (which can bring with it bacteria, mold, or vermin)…and it’s easier to just throw out paper plates, plastic forks, spoons, and knives…and those disposable plates and utensils are what makes it possible for a client to have a clean living space (and feel better)…then it’s time to nuke the whales and stock up on disposable plastics.

There is a time and a place for environmental activism…there’s also a time and a place to remember that clients have every right to put themselves first, and it’s one of our goals – I believe – as Social Workers, to remind clients that they are allowed to take care of themselves first, that they are allowed to put their needs first, and that we can work together to help them find other ways of taking care of the environment (and even offsetting their adaptations/restrictions) so that nuking the whales can become a win-win situation…because our clients aren’t going to be healthy (or successful) if their own environments (remember PIE) aren’t inhabitable, let alone be able to worry or do anything about Mother Earth.

*Social Work Desk does not advocate nuking actual whales. Please do not do this. Looking at you, 45 & Kim Jong-un.