How to Deal With Climate Anxiety: 6 Ways to Cope
Takeaway: Climate anxiety can bring up feelings of despair, overwhelm, and even numbness. You may ask yourself, "How do I begin to deal with climate anxiety?" Although we cannot individually control climate change, I hope to provide you with tools and resources to understand what you are feeling and ways to cope with climate anxiety and bring more connection into your life.
Understanding climate change anxiety
The American Psychological Association and EcoAmerica define eco-anxiety (or climate anxiety) as “the chronic fear of environmental doom.” Eco-anxiety can also describe “mental distress or anxiety associated with worsening environmental conditions or anxiety experienced in response to the ecological crisis.” Other common emotions related to climate change are hopelessness, doom, overwhelm, anger, guilt, rage, apathy, sadness and grief. Eco anxiety is not a disorder and cannot be found in the DSM-V. If you are experiencing eco anxiety, or other strong emotions around what is happening to our planet, I want you to know that these are normal psychological responses to what we are experiencing with our quickly changing climate. Of course we are feeling this way! This is a healthy reaction when experiencing loss, uncertainty, fear, and helplessness. No matter where we live, we are all feeling the impacts of climate change and global warming at varying degrees.
So...Why are People Experiencing Climate Anxiety?
Extreme Weather Events: Increased frequency and severity of hurricanes, floods, wildfires, natural disasters and heatwaves.
Social Media: Constant negative climate news on climate disasters, scientific reports, and grim predictions.
Personal Experience: Direct experience with climate-related events, such as losing a home to a natural disaster.
Environmental Degradation: Visible signs of pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and habitat destruction.
Health Impacts: Concerns about the health effects of climate change, such as heat stress, respiratory issues, and vector-borne diseases.
Social and Economic Impacts: Anxiety over potential economic instability, food and water insecurity, and displacement of populations, especially communities of color.
Moral and Ethical Concerns: Feelings of guilt or responsibility for contributing to climate change and concern for future generations.
Inadequate Political Action: Frustration and helplessness due to perceived lack of effective policy and leadership to address climate change.
Cultural and Global Community Impact: Loss of cultural heritage and community identity due to changing environments.
Activism and Advocacy: Stress and burnout from being heavily involved in climate activism and advocacy efforts.
How climate anxiety can affect people
Feeling climate anxiety not only impacts our mental health, but our overall well being. There are many factors that contribute to our own personal response to climate change. Research shows that those most impacted by the climate crisis are communities of color, the economically disadvantage, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, people with pre-existing mental health issues, women & children. The pervasive and multifaceted impact of climate change on individuals and communities highlights the importance of addressing both environmental and mental health issues in tandem.
Does Any of This Sound Familiar?
Anxiety and Depression: Persistent worry about the future and feelings of helplessness can lead to chronic anxiety, depression and ecological grief.
Stress: Ongoing concern about climate change can increase stress levels, leading to physical and emotional exhaustion.
PTSD: Those directly affected by climate disasters may develop post-traumatic stress disorder, with long-term psychological impacts, or pre-traumatic stress disorder; sitting in the fear of what is to come.
Decision-Making Challenges: Overwhelming feelings about climate change can complicate making everyday decisions, particularly those related to lifestyle and consumption.
Somatic Symptoms: Eco anxiety can manifest in physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive issues, and sleep disturbances.
Strained Relationships: Differing views on climate change with a family member and social circles can lead to conflicts and strained relationships.
Social Withdrawal: Individuals may isolate themselves due to feeling misunderstood or overwhelmed by climate concerns, leading to loneliness.
Reduced Enjoyment: Constant worry about the climate crisis can diminish the ability to enjoy everyday activities and experiences.
Lifestyle Changes: Individuals might make drastic lifestyle changes, such as reducing travel, decreasing energy consumption or changing dietary habits, which can impact their overall quality of life.
Increased Activism: Some may channel their eco anxiety into climate action with the hope of positive change, which can be both positive and exhausting.
Avoidance Behavior: Others might avoid climate news and discussions about climate change to protect their mental health, which can limit their awareness and engagement.
Academic Performance: young people experiencing eco anxiety may struggle academically due to decreased focus and motivation.
Career Choices: The climate crisis might influence career decisions, with some young people opting for environmentally-focused professions or experiencing burnout in high-stress jobs.
Community Involvement: Anxiety can drive individuals to either deeply engage with or withdraw from community activities and support networks.
Cultural Shifts: Collective anxiety can lead to cultural shifts, influencing art, media, and public discourse around environmental issues.
6 tips for dealing with climate anxiety
If you're feeling overwhelmed by where to start addressing your eco anxiety, use this as a helpful starting point in your journey to bring about better understanding your needs to create change and healing in your life.
1. Name & Know Your Feelings
Due to the state of our world, we are grappling with so many of our own emotions. It's imperative to identify our own feelings—whether it's anxiety, guilt, rage, overwhelm, the list goes on and on. Permit yourself to fall apart, to rage, to grieve, to feel! These emotions are a normal human responses to the crises we face. By acknowledging and processing our own emotions, we not only safeguard our mental health but also create space to authentically connect with others. Modeling vulnerability and sharing our experiences can help us tap into our own experiences, foster a sense of normalization and validate our real struggles. If this feels daunting or you don’t know where to begin, using a tool like the climate emotions wheel, created from Panu Pihkala’s research. This can be a helpful place to start. In order to stay in the work externally, it's essential that we don't bypass our internal work.
2. Limit social media and doom scrolling
If you're on the journey of trying to manage climate anxiety, it's important to take stock of how you are spending your time online. If part of your routine at night or first thing in the morning, is grabbing your phone and scrolling through social media, take a minute to assess what you are actually taking in. Is your feed full of doom and negative news stories? It is important to stay informed, but remember, that the information we are allowing into our brains has to go somewhere. Find balance in what seeds you are planting and make sure you are also watering joy, creativity, connection and active hope.
3. Practice Self Care
I love the way Dr Pooja Lakshmin defines self care. "... Real self-care is principles, and principles are nonspecific. They’re timeless. They are a way of thinking and looking at the world. So boundaries, compassion, values, power." Spend some time figuring out what self care needs to be for you and your mental health. And if needed, connect with a mental health professional. Check out the Climate Psychology Alliance for a directory of Climate Aware therapists in your state or region.
4. Reconnect to your why
The fight against climate change is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s easy to fall into the trap of consuming endless news articles or burying our heads in the sand to avoid harsh realities. However, neither extreme is sustainable. We can visit these places, but we shouldn’t live there. Regularly check in with yourself to assess your emotional bandwidth. Recognize when you need to step back, take a break, or seek support. Burnout and avoidance only hinder our ability to be effective advocates for both ourselves, families and greater communities. Sometimes the problems can feel so out of reach and too big to tackle. The Climate Action Venn Diagram created by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a great exercise in helping you reconnect to your own meaningful impact in this work. Finding your own relationship with action and purpose is necessary. We all have our own unique role to play.
5. Spend time in nature
Find time in your daily life to connect with mother nature can help decrease distress related to climate change. Spending time in nature is great for your mental health. It helps reduce stress, boosts your mood, and can help you feel more relaxed and connected to something bigger than yourself. Just a little time outside can make a big difference in how you feel overall, and help you feel grounded. Going on a morning hike with a friend, walking barefoot in your backyard, sitting under a tree listening to the birds or tending to your small garden can help to deepen our connection to the natural world.
6. Seek out Community & Connection
Where are you experiencing connection in your life? Isolation is a contributing factor in perpetuating the feelings of hopelessness and doom for our world. When we feel connected to something bigger than ourselves, we feel less alone. When support and connection are present, our ability to take action is more accessible. According to a 2023 mental health & climate report, the emotional health of youth improves when they feel empowered by their climate actions, seeing them as significant contributions to their lives and communities. Find what is already happening in your local environmental group that you can plug into. Or if you're looking for community through support groups, look into climate cafes, The work that reconnects, or The Good Grief Network.
Find support in your climate anxiety journey with Willow Tree Collective.
The climate crisis is not going away, which can feel overwhelming and hopeless. However, you don't have to try and figure all of this out all on your own. This is the time to get creative, build resiliency, reimagine a future of deeper connections to each other and the natural world. Through finding support and connecting to your own offerings and movement towards change, there's possibility for healing. We'd love to support you in your journey. Reach out to today to schedule a free consultation.
