Climate Anxiety
With fire, droughts and flooding rain, we in Australia have come to bear the brunt of climate change. The issue is fore of mind for many people; particularly young people who face a future of further climate-influenced disaster.
But where does concern about an issue become pathological?
There is recent evidence that a state of “climate anxiety” has emerged among some people1.
What is climate anxiety? We may describe climate anxiety as a state of distress, involving feelings of loss, hopelessness and anger, about the state of the Earth’s climate and the increasing level of environmental disaster it brings2. It may have existential or spiritual dimensions3. It may also be related to a range of concerns that have recently been observed: “eco-anxiety”, “ecological grief”, “Solastalgia”, “eco-paralysis” and “eco-anger”4. It also seems to be more prevalent in areas or communities that have been impacted seriously by the changes of climate change.
How should we respond?
Our immediate impulse may be to use the tools we already have to treat other types of anxiety. These would include talking therapies with psychologists or therapist, developing active coping skills and self-efficacy as well as promoting hope and social connectedness5. In a scoping review, Baudon and Jachens6 (2021) identify a number of fairly conventional responses, including (inter alia) fostering clients’ inner resilience, helping clients find social connection and emotional support by joining groups, and connecting clients with nature. They find that psychoanalysis, ecotherapy, and Jungian depth psychology have all been used and argue that almost all interventions should allow clients space for emotional expression about the issue at hand.
However, this kind of treatment may not be effective for all people and, probably, misses the main issue: people feel powerless about the scale of climate change. Thus, a more effective response to climate anxiety may be to empower people who feel powerless. We may do this by teaching skills around protest and advocacy; by identifying pathways of political influence; and even showing how people can effect change in their own lives by decreasing their carbon footprint. Empowerment can involve action at both the individual and collective level. Empowerment like this can help people feel that they have autonomy and that there is hope for a positive outcome – or at least, a less negative one.
1Coffey, Y., Bhullar, N., Durkin, J., Islam, M.S. and Usher, K., 2021. Understanding eco-anxiety: A systematic scoping review of current literature and identified knowledge gaps. The Journal of Climate Change and Health, 3, p.100047
2Usher, K., Durkin, J. and Bhullar, N., 2019. Eco-anxiety: How thinking about climate change-related environmental decline is affecting our mental health. International journal of mental health nursing.
3Pihkala, P. (2018). ECO‐ANXIETY, TRAGEDY, AND HOPE: PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SPIRITUAL DIMENSIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: with Karl E. Peters,“Living with the Wicked Problem of Climate Change”; Paul H. Carr,“What Is Climate Change Doing to Us and for Us?”; James Clement van Pelt,“Climate Change in Context: Stress, Shock, and the Crucible of Livingkind”; Robert S. Pickart,“Climate Change at High Latitudes: An Illuminating Example”; Emily E. Austin,“Soil Carbon Transformations”; David A. Larrabee,“Climate Change and Conflicting Future .... Zygon®, 53(2), 545-569.
4Ágoston, C., Csaba, B., Nagy, B., Kőváry, Z., Dúll, A., Rácz, J. and Demetrovics, Z., 2022. Identifying types of eco-anxiety, eco-guilt, eco-grief, and eco-coping in a climate-sensitive population: A qualitative study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(4), p.2461.
5Usher, K., Durkin, J. and Bhullar, N., 2019. Eco-anxiety: How thinking about climate change-related environmental decline is affecting our mental health. International journal of mental health nursing.
6Baudon, P. and Jachens, L., 2021. A scoping review of interventions for the treatment of Eco-Anxiety. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(18), p.9636.
Dr. Richard Schweizer, Policy Officer at One Door Mental Health richard.schweizer@onedoor.org.au.
To receive new blogs from Dr. Richard Schweizer subscribe to our eNews.
Dr Richard Schweizer