A home disaster can leave you with a heavy emotional aftermath. If the damages are the result of a natural disaster, you may be dealing with a heightened, unsettling awareness of climate change. Experts have begun calling this eco-anxiety or climate anxiety—intense feelings of sadness, rage, guilt, panic, helplessness, among others, related to global warming. Here are some practical steps you can take to cope and respond constructively.
See a therapist.
If you are feeling debilitating distress, you should talk with a therapist. If a home disaster has supercharged your eco-anxiety, finding a climate-aware therapist can provide relief. These professionals don’t just offer support for personal loss but also understand the broader implications of climate change on mental health. They’re trained to address the intertwined feelings of grief for the environment and personal trauma without dismissing your concerns about the planet’s future.
To locate such a therapist, the Climate Psychology Alliance North America is an excellent starting point. It offers a directory of therapists attuned to the nuances of climate-related distress. Their approach deals with the immediate emotional toll of your experience and empowers you to engage constructively with your environmental concerns, fostering resilience amidst ecological uncertainty.
Connect with others.
You’re not alone in your eco-anxiety; research shows that people are now feeling it throughout the world. A report from Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation links climate change to worsening mental health, with studies showing a correlation between rising temperatures and increased suicides and distress following extreme weather events. In a Lancet survey, a substantial portion of young people across ten countries expressed deep pessimism about the future due to climate change. An American Psychiatric Association poll found nearly half of Americans recognize its impact on mental health. These findings underscore that many other people are also experiencing eco-anxiety.
Connecting with others over climate concerns can be empowering and transform individual anxieties into collective resilience. Organizations like the Good Grief Network offer spaces where individuals can share their feelings, reducing the sense of isolation and strengthening the drive for communal action against environmental challenges. Similarly, Climate Cafés organized by the Climate Psychology Alliance North America aim to provide emotional support and offer a setting for people to openly explore and articulate their responses to the climate crisis. This reflective approach fosters a sense of community and understanding in a respectful space.
Reframe doomism.
Reframe your thinking about climate change so you can move away from a paralyzing doomism and take a more nuanced view. In an article for APSNews, renowned climate scientist Michael Mann offers a helpful analogy: “Climate change is a highway, not a cliff, and we can still take the exit ramp.” He highlights the fact that while we are indeed facing significant, dangerous impacts from climate change, the path forward isn’t predetermined towards disaster. Mann counters the media’s catastrophic narratives by pointing out that the worst-case scenarios are not inevitable. He notes that even though we’re on a risky path with climate change, there are still opportunities to mitigate harm through timely actions. He emphasizes the importance of engaging in proactive efforts to address the crisis rather than succumbing to despair.
Curate your media consumption.
Curating your media consumption can also help you manage eco-anxiety. Staying informed is part of your duties as a world citizen, but there’s a fine line between being up to date and being overwhelmed by a constant stream of distressing news.
Stop doomscrolling. Before you read yet another article about a climate catastrophe, ask yourself if you are really going to learn something new.
Is there a time of day when you usually feel positive and are at your most productive? Perhaps that’s not the best time to read the news or engage with social media.
Balance your intake of information and recognize when it’s time to take a step back for your mental health.
Go offline and do things you enjoy. Connecting with friends and family, discussing topics other than climate change, and spending time in nature can be a necessary break from the digital world. Stepping away for a bit won’t change the course of events and doesn’t mean you’re less committed to the planet’s health.
Do something.
Once you’ve managed to bring your eco-anxiety to manageable levels, you can channel it into action, turning fear into a constructive force in your life. By engaging in activities that combat climate change—whether it’s reducing your waste, enhancing energy efficiency, joining community-based environmental initiatives, or getting involved in political organizing to advocate for climate policies—you can gain a sense of agency and purpose.
Looking for some ideas? The David Suzuki Foundation has a list of ten areas for action. 350.org has suggestions for how to get involved in fighting climate change.