Eco-anxiety - A growing phenomenon

By Tiffany Carthy, MSc, July 2020 (Positive Psychologist)

A survey by environmental charity Global Action Plan revealed one in three teachers are seeing high levels of climate anxiety in students, while just over 77% of students say that thinking about climate change makes them feel anxious.

Eco-anxiety is a growing phenomenon where people experience high levels of concern, worry, stress and feelings of anxiety, helplessness and hopelessness in the face of climate change, ecological disasters, and risks to the natural environment. People with eco-anxiety may worry about their own mortality, the mortality of their loved ones and how the environment will impact their future and future generations. Eco-anxiety is not an illness or a disorder, but is a very real concern that’s impacting people’s lives right now. It’s a perfectly normal, human reaction to what is happening in the natural world.

Eco-anxiety can lead to patterns of thinking that can leave us feeling helpless and hopeless. When faced with existential threats and big issues our minds try to think their way out of the problem. Problem solving can be helpful, but this can turn in to repetitive worrying over things that we cannot solve in our own minds. Repetitively focusing on the past and ruminating over things that have already happened can also leave us in a state of helplessness. Trying to avoid thinking about the problems and the anxiety we feel can lead to us feeling overwhelmed and hopeless to change anything. 

In order to heed the wisdom and messages of the emotions that eco-anxiety brings, we can approach our emotions with a sense of acceptance, curiosity and self-compassion, rather than fear, or a desire to get rid of or get away from them. When we bring awareness to how our minds and bodies respond when faced with eco-anxiety, we can begin to compassionately support ourselves to turn debilitating feelings into something that motivates us to act in alignment with our values. 

Changing your lifestyle to be more compatible with your values can help with eco-anxiety, along with taking individual action and making small lifestyle changes to help with feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. It can also be helpful to focus your attention on finding a community of like-minded people so that you can express and share your feelings of eco-anxiety and come up with a list of practical things you can do to take action. 

"The world needs people who are willing to make sacrifices for the greater good. Every small effort makes a big difference. Every act done with meaning and integrity is never small."

Radhanath Swami