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. 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 called eco-anger, eco-grief, or climate anxiety.

Background

Throughout 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 worldwide 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 people realized the shocking toll human activity has taken on the planet. Humans have had a profound and largely negative effect on the world’s ecosystems, 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 whole natural world might also be seen as its own massive ecosystem. 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 overconsumption and wastefulness that have created millions of tons of garbage.

Human population growth, along with high levels of consumption, is increasing all these problems and further stretching Earth’s limited and precious natural resources. At the same time, it harms countless other living organisms and drives some to extinction. The destruction of other living things leads 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 cause severe and potentially irreversible damage to the planet’s ecosystems within generations.

Overview

The stark realities of these and other ecological problems have come as a shock to many people. Some may feel that environmental damage is already too significant and that 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 continually inflict 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) has recognized the effects of climate change and other environmental harms on the human psyche, although eco-anxiety is not a formal diagnosis. 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.

Researchers studying the problem have suggested 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 suggested that eco-anxiety exists in many more people than those who realize it, report it, or seek treatment.

Many therapists felt unprepared to treat patients experiencing eco-anxiety. Some noted 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. By 2025, climate-related distress had begun to be incorporated into some continuing education and training programs for mental health professionals. Some believed that clients were exaggerating or using ecological worries to mask other fears. However, 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.

Cases of eco-anxiety were growing, but many mental healthcare professionals and academics were unsure how to address them. This led some to create professional organizations to support practitioners and patients, including the Climate Psychology Alliance and the Good Grief Network. Some therapists treat eco-anxiety using psychodynamic psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy. 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 manageable. Most anxieties relate to factors that a person can control in some way. 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.

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