Treat Yourself Like a Beloved Dog: Summer Survival
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- Emma Beddington writes in the Guardian that "lazy, joyful, sunscreen-scented days" are giving way to "stifling, existentially terrifying ones" as cataclysmic wildfires threaten the UK and farmers issue "dire warnings about our food supply in the near future."
- Rescue centres are filling with dehydrated hedgehogs and the Environment Agency is having to rescue fish amid the extreme heat, the column reports.
- Vanity Fair has declared 2026 a "sad-girl summer," highlighting female singer-songwriters soundtracking an "undeniably cruel" season of anxieties, per Beddington.
- Beddington, a self-described "veteran of sad-girl summers" who experiences hot-weather seasonal affective disorder with "brain shutdowns," outlines six coping tips: treat yourself like a dog in the heat, start the day with an offline book, take up a temporary hobby, delete weather apps, become nocturnal, and enjoy summer fruit.
- Novelist Naomi Alderman is running a "brilliant reading version of Couch to 5K" on her Substack, recommended for readers whose concentration is shot.
- Beddington's current "temporary hobby" is crafting "elaborate salads that would cost £17 in London," photographing each in a phone folder called "lunch" she plans to delete in September.
- Beddington closes by arguing that feeling angry, grief-stricken and frightened is "sane and rational" — "Wouldn't it be weirder if you didn't?"
Why it matters: Beddington directly addresses readers internalising climate dread as personal failure, asserting that anger and fear are "sane and rational" responses to wildfires, UK drought and farmer food warnings. Her tips convert abstract advice (defer the news, step back from doomscrolling) into quirky, low-effort actions — from photographing a £17-style salad to deleting weather apps — giving anxious readers explicit permission to prioritise small comforts.
