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TAKING ACTION AGAINST ECO -ANXIETY
ECO-ANXIETY … • BY MARION SPÉE
While the scientists who study climate change have been some of the first to admit the fragility of their mental health, fears about climate change are now affecting everyone. “In my clinical practice, I never saw this kind of case a year or two ago,” says psychologist Joe L. Flanders. “Now, I’ve got several cases.” Young people, more likely to bear the brunt of the consequences of a feverish planet, suffer more from green depression than other age groups, it seems. The young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg sank into depression after seeing a documentary on polar bears, before becoming the figurehead of the youth ecology movement. But what is eco-anxiety exactly? Anxiety refers to an increase in stress hormones as the body prepares to defend itself. “If we come face to face with a lion, fear will trigger our
biological defence mechanisms and make us take to our heels. For eco-anxiety, it’s sort of the same thing, in that our survival’s at stake, except that the threat is more abstract,” explains Joe L. Flanders. The American Psychology Association (APA) refers to this issue in a March 2017 report devoted to the consequences of climate change. The report defines eco-anxiety as a “chronic fear of a condemned environment.” But fear sparks a reaction, so maybe this predicament should also be seen as an opportunity for individual or collective initiative. Still, what can we do to cope with the despair that overcomes us when we see temperatures soaring, glaciers melting and species disappearing? Act, act, act. “Doing nothing would be worse,” says Joe L. Flanders. Taking action is the best thing to do to make yourself feel that you’ve got at least some control over the situation and so reduce your anxiety. Act within the realm of possibility, according to the time you have available, at your scale: campaign, write, speak, get involved in your community. Or identify areas where you can make a difference: consumption, plastic, waste, transportation. ⊗
PHOTO Shutterstock/Valmedia
A new concept has recently emerged in the media. More and more people feel as though they have a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. They’re feeling depressed and powerless about ongoing and inexorable climate change. People talk about climate angst, green depression, ecological burnout, but the term that seems to be increasingly used is eco-anxiety.
