Referred to as eco-anxiety, climate distress, climate change anxiety, or climate anxiety, these terms describe anxiety related to the global climate crisis and the threat of environmental disaster.
Worrying about climate change is affecting more people as global warming becomes more apparent around the world. This is a reasonable and healthy response to this kind of global threat.
There is evidence that by talking about this worry and taking practical steps, it can lessen its impact on you. The key is not to freeze into inaction when it all seems so overwhelming. We can not sleepwalk into another decade of inaction when this is the last decade for meaningful action.
Some advice from Climate Psychologists are:
- Validate - Accept the negative emotions. Recognise that they are there
- Balance – you did not cause the problem on your own and will not be able to solve it by yourself.
- Media blackout – step away to give your brain time to reset.
- Connection – connect with like-minded people that are committed to positive action.
- Set goals – it's important to set meaningful goals that you can commit to and achieve.
- Celebrate success - we're often rubbish at this but need to celebrate every success, even if it's just cutting one day of meat from your diet this week.
Here are some links to help you understand anxiety about climate change and hopefully manage it: