Climate crusade saved Greta from 4-year depression hell, says her father
And now teen wants to go back to school so she can be ‘normal again’
GRetA thunberg’s father has revealed the 16-year-old’s climate campaign ‘saved’ her from crippling depression.
Svante thunberg said his daughter was ill for ‘three or four years’ before she began her crusade and even stopped eating and talking.
he and Greta’s mother Malena, an opera singer and former eurovision contestant, took time off work to help their daughter – but he admitted they were worried by her decision to become an activist. ‘We thought it was a bad idea,’ he said. ‘Just the idea of your own daughter putting herself at the very front line of such a huge question like climate change. you wouldn’t want that as a parent.’
his remarks came during a special edition of BBC Radio 4’s today programme, which was guest-edited by Greta.
Mr thunberg said they warned their daughter she would have to be prepared for criticism, and admitted: ‘I don’t know how she does it but she laughs most of the time, she finds it hilarious.’
But Greta herself described attacks from politicians such as Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro and US President Donald trump – who she was caught glaring at on camera when their paths crossed at the UN in September – as ‘just funny’.
She said politicians were ‘terrified of young people bringing change’ and added: ‘they see us as some kind of threat.’
But she added she was looking forward to returning to school in August and being a ‘normal teenager’ again.
‘It’s been a very strange year. It was something no-one could have predicted,’ she said. ‘I definitely feel I am being listened to. But that doesn’t mean that what we are saying is translated into action.’
And the 16-year-old added: ‘I hope I won’t have to sit outside the Swedish parliament for long. I hope I don’t have to be a climate activist any more.
‘I am really looking forward to going back to school and being like everyone else – having a normal life and not having to organise marches and so on.’
Mr thunberg opened up about the difficulties that his daughter, who has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, experienced with depression.
‘three or four years before she went on the school strike she fell ill and she stopped talking, she stopped eating. She stopped going to school, she was basically at home for a year. She didn’t eat for three months, which was of course the ultimate nightmare for us.
‘We took time off. We sat down and we got help from doctors. We just took a very, very long time to spend a lot of time together and work it out together.’
he said his decision to listen to his daughter and turn vegan gave her ‘more energy’. But he added: ‘I didn’t do it to save the climate, I did it to save my child.’ Mrs thunberg stopped touring as an opera singer and ‘changed her whole career’ to support her daughter’s campaign. the family now typically drive or sail to their destinations to reduce their carbon emissions and say they do so to ‘make our children happy’.
Mr thunberg added: ‘you think she’s not ordinary now because she’s very famous. But to me she’s an ordinary child. She laughs a lot, we have a lot of fun – and she’s in a very good place.’
When asked if he was proud of his daughter’s achievements, including being nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize, the 50-year-old actor said: ‘I’m pleased that we chose to listen to her.’
Greta said her activism had been a medicine. ‘Just being part of a movement that has so much impact on the world is an amazing feeling. I wish more people could feel like that.’ the radio show also featured a chat with Sir David Attenborough, who commended her for ‘achieving things that many of us who have been working on the issue for 20 years have failed to do.
‘the motto that the world belongs to young people, that’s a very powerful one. you have made it an argument people can’t dodge.’ Greta’s school strike for climate began outside the Swedish parliament in August 2018, and it has since spread across the world with millions taking part.
‘It’s been a very strange year’