If you’re anxious about the climate crisis and how it will impact not just you, but the innocent children of this beautiful planet…

you’re not alone.

More than two-thirds of Americans experience
some form of climate anxiety or eco-anxiety.

Not familiar with the term climate anxiety? The American Psychological Association (APA) defined the term “eco-anxiety” in 2017, describing it as “a chronic fear of environmental doom.” The APA stated that the impact of climate change on individuals’ quality of life “may lead to loss of personal and professional identity, loss of social support structures, loss of a sense of control and autonomy and other mental health impacts such as feelings of helplessness, fear and fatalism.”

“Climate anxiety is not in itself a problem,” says Britt Wray, a Stanford researcher who specializes in climate change and mental health. “It’s actually a very healthy and normal response to have when one understands the escalating civilizational threat that we’re dealing with when it comes to the climate crisis. However, it can become a huge problem if the feelings become so severe that a person starts to lose their ability to function and access wellbeing and get through the day.”

It’s good to know all this climate anxiety is normal. In our latest podcast episode—featuring Leslie Davenport, who is a climate psychology educator, consultant, and therapist—we dig deeper into what climate anxiety is and what we can do about it. Listen up then read on for more…

While the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) does not include “ecoanxiety” as a specific diagnosis some people are expressing high levels of stress over climate change with symptoms including panic attacks, obsessive thinking, loss of appetite, and insomnia. It’s real.

Rising temperatures have been linked to increases in emergency department visits for psychiatric reasons, and may impair cognitive development in children and adolescents. And, as you can imagine, food insecurity is associated with depression, anxiety, and behavioral problems. [Source: Harvard University].

The bottom line: Climate change is not a happy topic. Hopefully you feel a little better after listening to this podcast episode.

TAKE GD ACTION

Having climate anxiety isn’t fun. The good news is: There are ways to cope, like channeling that energy into action! We hope that by following one or more of the tips below, you will not only feel better but make a difference in the world.

• Volunteer for or donate to climate change action organization
• Sign and share climate change action petitions
• Join a climate change protest near you
• Find a therapist that specializes in climate psychology
• Join or start a climate anxiety support group in your area
• Make changes to your lifestyle consistent with your values. Things like: Traveling less, turning off lights, investing in renewable energy… Search our website with the term “TIPS” to find more ideas.
• Scroll down to read an excerpt from climate psychologist Leslie Davenport’s book
• Create or view some eco art or write about what you’re experiencing. Both can be healing. Share them with us and we may just publish it here on our blog!
• Share our podcast to help spread the word on this and many other green living topics. 

Whatever you do, take the advice from Douglas Adams, who wrote the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe: DON’T PANIC! If we’re overly anxious, we won’t be able to think clearly and that won’t be helpful. But don’t feel bad if you can’t help feeling anxious because that will make you feel more anxious.

Reading this may provide additional climate anxiety relief…

The following is an excerpt from Leslie Davenport’s book, Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change:

Body Wise
Walk—around your land, your neighborhood, your city. Let it be a walking meditation, where you feel with heightened awareness the physical sensation of each step. Notice how much life wants to thrive: plants that insist on growing in the tiniest crack in the cement, flowers that seed an entire meadow and set a hillside ablaze with color. Look closely to spy the blush hidden on the innermost petal of a flower; zoom out and see the complex contours and textures in an area where a variety of trees, bushes, and plants are thriving in their communal ecosystem. What do you smell, hear, and feel? When you walk at different times of the year, notice the particular beauty of each season. Autumn gives us the rustle of leaves as they change and descend, blanketing the ground with a patchwork of yellow, orange, red, and brown. In winter the starkly elegant branches hold an invisible secret: they are protecting the green and blossoming promise of a time to come. The snow quiets everything down; overgrown fields look equally beautiful cloaked in white. What else do you notice?

Heart/Mind Wise

Gardens can teach us much about ourselves and life. Plants will not grow any faster than nature determines, but we can help create the conditions that will encourage them to thrive. What conditions would best support your personal growth? Gardening is a practice that requires understanding, observation, consistent care, and patience. What better guidelines for our own unfolding. Skillful gardening needs an understanding of context: plants that love the tropics will wither in the desert and vice versa. It helps to have the right tools. When we are wondering, “Will they ever grow?!” we might be tempted to dig into the soil to see if the seeds are sprouting, which is likely to damage the tender shoots. And what is our reaction when we hit a rocky patch? There is a rhythm and cycle: preparing the soil, planting, weeding, nourishing, harvesting, and pruning. There is an interdependent relationship between the weather, soil type, insects, and other plants. We can see resiliency as we observe the trees that bend but do not break in the storm, and the return of spring. What is the state of your mind and heart’s garden? Do you have the right tools to thrive? Are your thoughts nourishing or toxic? Is it time to weed or to pause and enjoy the blossoming beauty? Write about it.

World Wise
Would you consider converting your lawn into a garden? Becoming a guerilla gardener? Joining a community garden? Supporting or starting a seed library? Planting tomatoes or herbs in a pot? Volunteering at a local school that has a garden for their kids? Funding the planting of trees or wetlands to restore ecosystems? Move from noticing and appreciating to becoming an active steward of life. As with all of these practices, it is less about following the suggestions listed here and more about launching your own ways of becoming engaged that are relevant to your life and local ecosystem. Notice what tugs on your heart, sparks your creativity—and then follow through. Identify a step you can take, with a clear timeline, and write about it. Then do it!

More about Leslie Davenport

Leslie Davenport is a climate psychology educator, consultant, and therapist exploring the intersectionality of climate, economics, education, policy, and social justice. 

Leslie helped shape the document: “Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance,” and authored four books including Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change, and All the Feelings Under the Sun, written for youth through the American Psychological Association. She is an advisor to Post Carbon Institute, Climate Mental Health Network, Integrative Healers Action Network, One Resilient Earth, and co-lead of the Climate Psychology Certification at the California Institute of Integral Studies and faculty with their School of Professional Psychology and Health. For more information, go to lesliedavenport.com.