Climate Anxiety and ways to alleviate it

October 25, 2022

Alisha Wang

Heightened awareness of climate change and its impacts has resulted in newfound mental health-related distress known as climate anxiety. Climate anxiety is excessive worry towards the environment and the progression of Climate change. According to Harvard Health Publishing, Climate anxiety is not a mental illness. However, scientists do not know the correlation between the two. Climate anxiety seems to occur mostly in children and youth. A study done by the Lancet found that 84% of children are worried about climate change and 59% are extremely worried. Climate Anxiety can lead to panic attacks, obsessive behaviour, loss of appetite, irritability, lack of sleep, and weakness. Climate Anxiety is a serious global challenge. For those who live in countries that have faced the direct impacts of climate change, the risk of developing Climate Anxiety is much greater. Climate Anxiety is oftentimes exacerbated by feelings of helplessness from the lack of government response to Climate change.

There are a few ways to ease Climate Anxiety both for yourself and ways to help others struggling with it. Since Climate Anxiety disproportionately affects young people whose concerns are typically not taken as seriously, the easiest way to help someone struggling with Climate distress is by validating their concerns. There is also lots of groups and organizations one could join to help alleviate climate stress, the All We Can Save project is a resource where one could learn about facilitating small groups to discuss Climate change before starting their own “circle” (small discussion groups) with close ones, it’s an organization dedicated to community building and deepening the dialogue about the Climate Change crisis. Groups like these can help people feel less alone in their struggles and strengthen community bonds. Certain therapists are also climate aware meaning that they understand the effects climate change has on mental health and can help soothe their struggling patients. Although not directly cited as a way to alleviate Climate Anxiety, going outside and immersing yourself in nature for just two hours per week has been proven to lower blood pressure and destress.

Ultimately, with the ongoing mental health and Climate crisis, it is imperative that we validate the concerns of people around us and continue the push towards Climate change awareness so meaningful change can be implemented.

Works Cited
Agrogeoambiental, Revista. “Summary.” Revista Agrogeoambiental. Feb 4, 2022. Web. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00278-3/fulltext.
Anand, Brian Barnett,Amit. “Climate Anxiety and Mental Illness.” Scientific American. Web. Oct 22, 2022 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-anxiety-and-mental-illness/.
“Become A Climate-Aware Therapist.” Climate Psychology Alliance North America. Web. Oct 22, 2022 https://www.climatepsychology.us/become-climate-aware-therapist.
Dodds, Joseph. “The psychology of climate anxiety.” BJPsych Bulletin. Web. Oct 22, 2022 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8499625/#:~:text=Climate%20anxiety%20can%20lead%20to,whether%20they%20themselves%20feel%20too.
“Ecopsychology: How Immersion in Nature Benefits Your Health.” Yale E360. Web. Oct 22, 2022 https://e360.yale.edu/features/ecopsychology-how-immersion-in-nature-benefits-your-health.
“How to start an All We Can Save Circle where you work.” The All We Can Save Project. Web. Oct 22, 2022 https://www.allwecansave.earth/starting-a-circle-at-work.
MPH, Stephanie Collier, MD. “If climate change keeps you up at night, here’s how to cope.” Harvard Health. 2022-06-13T10:30:00-0400 2022-06-13T10:30:00-0400. Web. Oct 22, 2022 https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-climate-change-keeping-you-up-at-night-you-may-have-climate-anxiety-202206132761.
Thompson, Tonis. “Climate anxiety. When it’s good to be worried.” Nature. Jun 2022. Web. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02582-8.
“Resources to Help You Cope With Climate Anxiety.” Time. Web. Oct 22, 2022 https://time.com/6112146/climate-anxiety-resources/.