Eco-anxiety

Eco-anxiety refers to strong, possibly overwhelming, distress about the state of the natural environment. The term “eco-anxiety” was likely coined in 2007. Although the phenomenon itself has remained loosely defined and quite controversial, even among mental healthcare experts, an increasing number of people seem to be experiencing it. By the 2020s, many therapists were finding ways to help people work through eco-anxiety and reinvest their energy in taking positive actions for the environment. Eco-anxiety may also be known by other names, such as “eco-anger” and “eco-grief.”

Background

Throughout human history, people have relied on the natural environment for the resources they needed to survive, including food, water, shelter, and tools. Over millennia, humans have multiplied significantly, spreading across the world and creating myriad forms of technology. During this time, humans demanded and used more and more of Earth’s resources, and their activities put an ever-greater strain on the environment.

Only in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have large numbers of people started to realize the shocking toll that human activity has taken on the planet. Humans have had a profound, and largely negative, effect on the world’s ecosystem, which is a community of living things that interact in many ways. An ecosystem can be as small as microorganisms in a drop of water or as large as an entire continent or ocean. The entire natural world might be seen as its own massive ecosystem as well. In an ecosystem, different kinds of organisms form a uniquely connected network that generally forms a balance, allowing life to continue.

By the twenty-first century, people have become increasingly aware of how much humans have changed Earth’s natural ecosystems, primarily for the worse. They are learning about potentially catastrophic problems that may soon occur. The most pressing concerns include climate change, which encompasses global warming; the pollution of land and water; and runaway overconsumption and wastefulness that have created millions of tons of garbage.

Rampant human overpopulation is increasing all these problems and further stretching Earth’s limited and precious natural resources. At the same time, it is harming countless other forms of living organisms and driving some to extinction. The destruction of other living things is leading to the overall loss of biodiversity, or the variety of living things that if left alone would likely live in natural balance. Many scientists believe that if people do not quickly change their ways, they can bring complete ruin to the planet within generations.

Overview

The stark realities of these and other ecological problems have come as a shock to many people. Some may feel that damage to the environment is too great already, and humans have already doomed the planet. Others feel stress, guilt, and anxiety about their own impact on the planet’s health. Some individuals feel sadness and despair for future generations that will have to cope with the damage people are continually inflicting upon the planet. Some people have chosen not to have children to avoid bringing more people into what they consider a hopeless situation.

In the twenty-first century, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) began to recognize the effects of climate change and other environmental harms on the human psyche. Increasing numbers of therapists were encountering patients who reported anxiety, depression, trauma, or other negative reactions to realizations about the state of the planet. This trend only grew as news of ecological emergencies continued.

Many therapists have felt unprepared to deal with patients experiencing these negative feelings. Some felt that it was not addressed in their training, and others did not understand how planetary-scale problems could be considered relevant to individuals’ mental health care. Some believed that clients were exaggerating their suffering or using ecological worries to mask other fears. Regardless, the complaint grew and spread in the 2000s to become large enough that many therapists began referring to the phenomenon as “eco-anxiety,” a term that appeared around the year 2007.

By the 2020s, cases of eco-anxiety were growing, but many mental healthcare professionals and academics were unsure how to address them. Researchers studying the problem have determined that ecological harm is a legitimate reason for negative feelings. Knowledge of the damage being done to Earth can trigger instinctive feelings of facing a threat—in this case, the threat of losing one’s home, livelihood, loved ones, and humanity’s chances of survival. In some cases, events often linked to ecological change, such as intense and frequent hurricanes, can leave people traumatized and afraid of future disasters. Some researchers have suggested that eco-anxiety dwells in many more people than those who realize it, report it, or seek treatment.

Although eco-anxiety may be a psychologically sensible reaction, it is a uniquely difficult one to control. Other anxieties may relate to life factors such as work or school stress, relationship problems, or phobias—all important but all potentially manageable. Most anxieties relate to factors that a person can control in some way. Through therapy, changes in behaviors and mindset, and so on, people can potentially make major changes to relieve their anxiety.

Eco-anxiety, however, connects a person’s psyche with planetary-scale problems that are far beyond the reach of all but a few extremely powerful individuals. People with eco-anxiety are prone to concentrating on problems over which they have little or no control. They do this to the extent that they can no longer carry out their regular life functions. In these cases, therapists tend to guide patients to begin by managing their own feelings and reactions. They can use mindfulness techniques such as meditation to calm themselves and relieve the paralysis caused by their anxiety.

Once this is accomplished, and patients feel more capable of coping, therapists may recommend that they become more active in positive ways. Patients may engage in climate activism by teaching others about caring for the environment or lobbying politicians to pass stricter environmental controls. Alternately, or at the same time, patients are likely to also benefit from spending more time appreciating and fostering nature in their own lives, such as by taking walks in the woods, planting gardens or trees, or picking up litter.

In these ways, therapists are not asked to become experts in environmental protection but only helpful guides in assisting clients in getting over their individual anxieties and taking reasonable, positive, real-world actions. These actions may be very small in the scope of the problems. However, if all people took them, the ecological crisis would likely be greatly reduced.

Bibliography

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Gregory, Andrew. “‘Eco-anxiety’: Fear of Environmental Doom Weighs on Young People.” The Guardian, 6 Oct. 2021, www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/06/eco-anxiety-fear-of-environmental-doom-weighs-on-young-people. Accessed 4 Sept. 2023.

Huizen, Jennifer. “What to Know about Eco-anxiety.” Medical News Today, 19 Dec. 2019, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327354. Accessed 4 Sept. 2023.

Kurth, Charlie and Panu Pihkala. “Eco-anxiety: What It Is and Why It Matters.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 13, 23 Sept. 2022, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.981814/full. Accessed 4 Sept. 2023.

“What Is Eco-anxiety?” Iberdrola, www.iberdrola.com/social-commitment/what-is-ecoanxiety. Accessed 4 Sept. 2023.

Whitcomb, Isobel. “Therapists Are Reckoning with Eco-anxiety.” Scientific American, 19 Apr. 2021, www.scientificamerican.com/article/therapists-are-reckoning-with-eco-anxiety/. Accessed 4 Sept. 2023.