Trying to spread the word about veganism is making me feel frustrated and exhausted, but I don’t want to let the animals down

It can be incredibly empowering to be vegan—once we’re informed about carnism and the benefits of veganism, we have more power to make our food choices freely and to help others do the same.

But being vegan also means being exposed to a lot of stress. We know that horrific suffering is happening every minute of the day. We live in a world where we may see the bodies of dead animals on a daily basis—and even see some of the people we’re closest to eating them. Our efforts to change the status quo are often invisible and may be mocked. It’s no wonder that despair can set in.

Relate to your veganism in a sustainable way

When we want to spread the word about veganism, it’s important to do so in a way that’s sustainable—so that we can keep doing it effectively for years to come. We go into detail about the reasons why relating sustainably to our veganism or our vegan advocacy is so crucial in this video.

Let yourself take a break from being “the vegan”

One way to relate to your veganism more sustainably is to give yourself permission not to discuss veganism when doing so might drain your energy too much.

You’re not responsible for turning everyone around you vegan. If you feel like you’re tired, you’re not in the mood to talk about veganism, or you just want to be you and not “the vegan,” give yourself permission to honor how you feel.

This way, you’re ensuring you’ll be able to keep advocating veganism in the long run. Maybe that person you didn’t discuss veganism with ended up not learning more about it, but you made an important investment in your energetic bank account, so you can affect many more people who may become vegan in the future.

Learn about secondary traumatic stress

To increase the chances that you feel happy and fulfilled as a vegan, we also recommend that you learn about secondary traumatic stress (STS), which affects many vegans and can have serious consequences for our well-being and sustainability if we don’t recognize and address it. STS is similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. But PTSD affects the direct victims of violence, while STS affects the witnesses to violence—which include vegans who have witnessed or are aware of animal suffering.

You can learn more about how to relate to veganism in a sustainable way, including by addressing STS, by taking our Sustainable Vegan Advocacy online course.

Other Resources to Check Out

I get angry when people say they love animals but they aren’t vegan

I keep talking with people about veganism, but I don’t think it’s doing any good

I feel like an outcast when I have to bring my own vegan food to a gathering