Understanding Eco-Anxiety: What It Is and Why It's on the Rise
The thought that the planet is becoming uninhabitable would worry any rational human being. However, some eco-warriors experience so much dread that they can no longer enjoy life. If environmental issues keep you up at night, trigger angry outbursts or terrify you about your future, you may have eco-anxiety.
What Is Eco-Anxiety?
Eco-anxiety refers to nagging fears of environmental doom and gloom. It stems from feelings of helplessness and frustration over adverse ecological ills receiving inappropriate solutions.
You can experience eco-anxiety at different levels. Its mildness or severity depends on:
The amount of disruption it causes in your life.
The strength of your belief in the likelihood of a solution to an environmental challenge.
Your level of guilt toward your contribution to the problem.
This distressful emotion is a legitimate response to a real threat to the planet’s ecological balance, so it’s not a mental disorder. Although psychiatrists can’t formally diagnose eco-anxiety, the health of a person living with it may decline over time.
Furthermore, some people tend to be more prone than others. Indigenous peoples are more likely to be significantly anxious about environmental changes because of the indelible link between their native lands and their cultural identities as groups. Many farmers, fishers, hunters and other people whose livelihoods depend on favorable environmental conditions are likely also extremely uneasy about ecological degradation.
Younger individuals are at higher risk of eco-anxiety. Children are still developing physically and emotionally, so they generally can’t handle negative news about the environment as well as adults. While they rely on grown-ups for solutions, they may resent adults, especially past and present authority figures, for not doing enough to prevent or mitigate the situation.
Strong feelings against climate change are prevalent among youths. A 2021 global survey of 10,000 young people aged 16-25 from 10 countries found that at least 84% of respondents were at least moderately worried about the matter. Fifty-nine percent of them were extremely worried.
Why Is Eco-Anxiety on the Rise?
Eco-anxiety is on the rise because of increased awareness of environmental issues, direct experiences of natural disasters and social contagion. Climate change isn’t a new phenomenon, but it has dominated the headlines since the release of “An Inconvenient Truth” in 2006. This documentary sparked global movements against the climate crisis, which haven’t lost steam since.
Many climate scientists agree the documentary included exaggerated claims and understated the nuances of the science behind climatic processes. However, the mounting evidence of worsening weather events is harder to dispute. For example, more frequent cold spells in the United States could be due to increasing global warming, supporting the idea that temperatures in the Arctic are rising faster than usual due to the greenhouse effect.
Information travels faster in the digital age. Going online can expose you to environmental problems and solutions you don’t have firsthand knowledge of. For instance, you may discover that polystyrene in packaging is a significant water polluter, making up 10%-40% of plastics contaminating waterways, from TikTokers or YouTubers. People’s negative sentiments on social media can intensify your eco-anxiety.
How to Overcome Eco-Anxiety
Eco-anxiety can take a toll on your health when left unchecked. Follow these four coping strategies to overcome excessive environment-related emotional distress.
1. Go Offline
While environmental challenges merit urgent action and attention, lessening your screen time can help you realize that most of them don’t immediately impact your life. Declining well-being does.
Switching off the news and staying away from your social networks for a while can work wonders for your body and mind. Unplug for as long as you need to forget your worries, focus on wellness, and recover physically and mentally.
2. Find a Positive Distraction
Hobbies are a form of self-care because they help keep your mind off what triggers you. Take dance classes, learn how to upcycle clothing, go on hikes or try whatever activity that can make you happy. Spending your time doing what you love instead of exposing yourself to stressors should lift your mood.
3. Surround Yourself With Well-Adjusted Minds
Finding your community matters to experience a sense of belonging and remind yourself you’re not alone in your crusade against ecological destruction. However, steer clear of echo chambers and interact with like-minded but emotionally stable people. Well-adjusted eco-warriors can show you how to take environmental matters seriously while safeguarding your well-being.
4. Show Yourself Compassion
Don’t be too hard on yourself. You have a responsibility to do your share to help correct environmental wrongs, but no advocacy is more important than your health and your relationships.
Be kinder to yourself because you don’t deserve to suffer for problems you didn’t personally cause and can’t single-handedly fix. Eat healthy, write a letter describing your feelings without blaming anyone and practice mindfulness through introspection. The more you love yourself, the more effective you can be as an eco-warrior.
Eco-Anxiety Is a Human-Made Crisis
Combating eco-anxiety is necessary before fighting bigger environmental battles. Make it a mission to protect yourself from this extreme negative emotion because you need to be holistically healthy to be an impactful force for good.
Mia is a professional health and wellness freelance writer with over five years of experience writing for sites like Real Simple and The Everygirl. Mia is also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Body+Mind magazine. You can follow Mia and Body+Mind on X and Instagram @bodymindmag!