Eco-Anxiety 

Liz Williams is a doctoral candidate studying Environmental Psychology at UVic. She gave a presentation to our Clinical Psychology Research Colloquium in February 2023. Here are some highlights from her talk: 

What is Eco-Anxiety?

Eco-Anxiety can be defined as “… the anxiety people experience that is triggered by awareness of ecological threats facing the planet due to climate change.” However, eco-anxiety is not the only term that describes the experience of distress and anxiety related to the perception of climate change. There are also terms such as ‘eco-paralysis,’ ‘solstalgia,’ and ‘ecological grief’ that encapsulate the complexity and nuance of these experiences.  

What is the Impact of Eco-Anxiety?

Eco-anxiety has far reaching impacts of mental health, both worsening existing mental health conditions and increasing the prevalence of new mental illnesses. It is also important to note that this disproportionately impacts minority and vulnerable populations. Despite the distress caused by climate change, nearly 67% of adults in the US rarely or never discuss it with their family and friends.  

Eco-Anxiety and Youth

Youth are particularly impacted by climate change and have been dubbed the ‘Climate Change Generation.’ They often report heightened anxiety, stress, and worry over the effects of climate change, but feel hopeless in the face of it. Further, their concerns are often dismissed by adults with whom they attempt to communicate with. 

What are the Challenges in Addressing Eco-Anxiety?

There are several challenges when it comes to addressing eco-anxiety, the most prominent being the lasting existence of climate change. Further, climate change can have both individual impacts and larger impacts. Climate change underscores existing social inequality in our communities and has become increasingly politically charged as an issue. The collective silence or pluralistic ignorance of climate change compounds the difficulty of broaching and addressing the topic directly. 

What Can be Done About Eco-Anxiety?  

There are multiple challenges associated with addressing eco-anxiety, but there is hope. Several steps that can be taken include facilitating individual and community-based resilience. People can be connected to existing resources in their communities, education, media, and the clinical world to help them feel more connected and less powerless. Finally, we can reframe the current perceptions of climate change into an opportunity to build more sustainably–minded communities. As clinicians, we can both help directly through individual therapy and on a broader scale through advocation and open support of community-based interventions. 

For additional information on ways to help, check out:  

1. Ágoston, C., Csaba, B., Nagy, B., Kőváry, Z., Dúll, A., Rácz, J., & 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), 2461. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042461

2. Desmarais, M.-É.,Sims, L. et Rocque, R. (2020, août). Helping students cope with eco-anxiety: 11 strategies educators can use [vidéo]. Loom. https://www.loom.com/share/c3808b71512a4bf8a90765570df00fca

3. Trauma-informed & culturally safe training https://vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca/

4. One Health Organization https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/index.html