Welfare at EA Durham

Claire, EA Durham's Welfare Representative is your go-to contact for any welfare related questions. Whether it be about EA, philosophy or just banta, Claire is an amazing person to talk to! She also worked as Leaf's safeguarding officer, and as a facilitator for Rethink Wellbeing, so she cares deeply about, and is very knowledgeable about, mental health.

Elisa

Hi everyone! Welcome to my profile, lovely to hear that you’re interested in effective altruism. As I’m sure everyone knows, uni is stressful, which is a lot when added to the stresses of everyday life. Being passionate about doing good can add to this. Caring a lot about doing good can be overwhelming. That’s why I decided to become Durham Effective Altruism’s welfare rep! If you’re ever feeling overwhelmed in this way, please know you’re not alone; you can’t change the world all on your own. We’re in this together, and I’m here to support you.

I’m the go-to contact for any welfare concerns or questions you have!

Message me for a chat, whether it’s about EA or anything else you’d like to talk about
My email is claire.i.macdonald@durham.ac.uk
Whatsapp (07905609549)

Meet Claire, EA Durham's Welfare Representative <3

Alex

EA Durham Fellowships

Unsure about getting involved with an EA fellowship? I completed the fellowship in term one of second year, so feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!
Already involved in the fellowship but finding the topics or workload difficult? It’s a lot to take in. Please let me know and I can help you out.

Interested in the crossover between EA and welfare? See the resources down below!
Just wanna make some friends in the EA community? I can help with that too

The EA community can be overwhelming and tends to overrepresent the already dominant groups in our society. If this is how you’re feeling, please contact me and I can put you in touch with other members of EA who you might be able to relate to!

Overwhelmed with studying?
Want some extra resources to do with effective altruism or philosophy?

Mental Health as a cause area of concern

Mental health as a cause area

The topic of mental health is gaining traction in the EA community as an important problem area.
Mental illness causes a huge amount of unhappiness throughout the world, and focusing on mental health treatment could be one of the most effective ways of improving world happiness.
Depression and anxiety are associated with a bigger decrease in life satisfaction more than debt, divorce and unemployment.
For more information on this, see these articles:
- https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/XWSTBBH8gSjiaNiy7/cause-profile-mental-health
- https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/DvJ2vqfzTyzbypwon/problem-area-report-mental-health

Self Care in EA

You’re probably getting involved in Effective Altruism because you really want to make an impact. Me too! Sometimes it can be easy to start to base your self-worth on how much you think you’re making an impact, especially when you’re spending a lot of time thinking about effective altruism! Here are some helpful articles and links to encourage you to think creatively and positively about making a change:

Welfare resources within the EA community:

The best collection of tips and information on sustaining an EA lifestyle: https://resources.eahub.org/learn/life/ - highly recommend this page.

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/tag/effective-altruism-lifestyle

A collection of posts about self-care within the EA community https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/tag/self-care
- My fave article: The Desperation Ham
- https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/eLufGMXjLbcyp4uBW/desperation-hamster-wheels

Imposter syndrome is common within the EA community. Here are some specific resources if you’re struggling with this!

Why you should prioritise self-care:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/pseF3ZmY7uhLtdwss/aiming-for-the-minimum-of-self-care-is-dangerous

General Welfare resources:

University counselling https://www.dur.ac.uk/counselling.service/
- I know using the Uni's services can be daunting, but my friend has used their counselling for two rounds and, despite the limited sessions, has found it very useful!
University disability support https://www.dur.ac.uk/disability.support/support/