How to relieve climate anxiety
Concerns about global warming are rising to the level that some people report experiencing constant and, at times, debilitating anxiety about it. Below we suggest some ways to help relieve this anxiety in the face of a real and present actuality.
Increasingly, anxiety about the effects of global warming is becoming a lived experience for many. When we are constantly worried about rising heat, frequent natural disasters, loss of biodiversity, and changes in our planet that will threaten our survival, we are experiencing climate anxiety, also called eco-anxiety. The constant deluge of news about wildfires, dying reefs, melting glaciers, and what will happen to us in 5, 10, or 20 years is ever-present.
It is wise to face threats head on, for our preservation. However, suppose stress and anxiety become the primary response to the threat, tainting our waking (and sleeping) moments and taking over our lives in a way that we just can’t change. In that case, addressing what is happening inside us is helpful.
According to Ofcom, 62% of UK people over 16 are worried that rising temperatures will directly affect them by 2030. Concerns about climate change relate to actual present events. While climate anxiety tends to occur more in people who are already more prone to anxiety, the way to manage it is quite different from generalised anxiety. Generalised anxiety does not necessarily correlate to real and present threats to well-being. Global warming and its effects are real and present, and so the anxiety is related and relevant.
Below, we suggest some ways to address and hopefully relieve climate anxiety so that we can navigate the threat we face in a healthy, proportionate, and helpful way.
The A, B, C method is a widely used mindfulness meditation method for addressing life’s triggers. It stands for Acknowledge the trigger, Be with the experience, and then Choose the response. This is the framework we suggest here when we experience climate anxiety.
Acknowledge the anxiety
1. Notice it is presenting
Sometimes, we are so caught up in the experience that we don’t step back and say: okay, this is happening. If we find that we are constantly feeding on news of the effects of global warming, getting triggered talking about it with others….if we find we are depressed now and then thinking about the climate, or frustrated, scared, angry and feeling powerless. If there comes a point when all of this becomes an unhelpful mix to bake in rather than a positive force for action. Let’s notice how often any or all of this is happening to the point where it is hampering our daily functioning and acknowledge that we may be caught in a mental loop of anxiety. 1.
2. Know you are not alone
Once we notice our climate anxiety, it’s worth remembering that we’re not alone. Climate anxiety is not a fixed sentence – most of us experience some level of worry about the world from time to time. It is a broad term to refer to this particular concern, to whichever degree we are experiencing it. In a study by Lancet Planterary Health surveying 10,000 people aged 16-25 around the world, 59% of people said they are very or extremely worried about climate change and more than 45% of respondents said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily life and functioning. 9% of Americans report feeling down, depressed or hopeless for atleast “several days” out of the last two weeks because of global warming. You are not alone.
3. Know that you can relieve it
It’s easy and understandable to panic, worsening the anxiety with self-blame for feeling it, wondering if you or the world will ever be alright. Know that your anxiety can be relieved. And it is within your power to relieve it, regardless of what is happening out in the world.
Be with the experience
4. Practice mindfulness and acceptance
Take some time to fully experience the anxiety. Whether you call it meditation, mindfulness, or simply sitting undisturbed to notice your physical sensations, emotions and thoughts – labelling them as you go – it is helpful to ground yourself in the experience rather than getting carried away by it. Ask yourself, where do you feel the anxiety in the body? What sensations are there in the heart, in the head, in the shoulders, elsewhere in the body? What emotions can you find? Notice the thoughts that keep recurring. And whatever you find, accept them without condition or judgement. Practice this full, unconditional acceptance of the experience.
5. It’s okay to grieve
Along with the worry and the frustration, it’s ok to acknowledge the grief. We are witnessing the loss of a world without these threats. It’s ok to grieve the disappearing species, the milder climate, the larger span of nature on the surface of the earth. To grieve the disappearing sounds of nature outside our doorstep. Underneath the fear and anger, there is sadness. Acknowledge it, and give it space.
Underneath the fear and anger, there is sadness. Feel it.
6. Practice self-compassion
Extend feelings of compassion to yourself for this experience. Like you would your best friend, be kind to yourself for all what you are going through and for having these sensations and emotions. Don’t berate yourself or try to push them away. Hold space for them as you would hold space for guestss, with gentleness through the experience. If you feel anxiety in the chest, stay with the sensations like a kind companion. Allow the soothing presence of your kind attention to be like the water on which all of these sensations, thoughts and feelings float and are held.
7. Contemplate safety
Once you have acknowledged, accepted and extended compassion for your lived experience of climate anxiety, it may be helpful to contemplate “safety”. In particular, choose a part of the body or visualise a setting where you feel safe. Then, notice the sensations in that part of the body or how the feeling of safety makes your body feel in your chosen visualised setting. Stay with these sensations and allow them to sink in. The more we notice and observe particular feelings, the stronger our tendency towards them grows – that’s how our brain works. If we practice noticing what safety feels like for us, we will be more connected to a feeling of safety over time. This doesn’t mean we ignore warning signs and threats – but our nervous system is less overloaded with never-ending feelings of threat. This practice is also helpful when we find ourselves getting carried away by catastrophising thoughts.
Choose your response
We can choose our response to the situation in our calm, fully accepting state. Anxious rumination doesn’t have to be inevitable.
8. Take individual action
Taking informed action at an individual level can feel empowering. Whether that’s by changing your mode of transport, donating to the cause, planting trees or voting for conscious leaders – if there are steps we can take individually, then there’s no reason not to. But be mindful of your expectations – it is through the individual actions of millions and billions of people that the trajectory will change. So if you don’t see the change in front of your eyes and you are doing all you can yourself, it’s easy to feel hopefulness and give up. Don’t. Just know your limits, feel the strength in knowing that your actions are aligned to your values, and they do matter in whatever proportion it may be.
Among the individual actions, one important one for your mental well-being is media intake management. Practice setting boundaries on how much media you consume. We are facing an unprecedented time where we have more information being pushed at us than we know what to do with. On the one hand our brain isn’t used to coping with so much information, and on another, it just wants to keep consuming it. So we have to take responsibility and place on our media consumption. Use the hours to engage in other activities that help you personally, whatever that is, from going for a walk to cooking. Let’s pace ourselves on the media to protect ourselves – the news won’t go away.
Take responsibility to place limits on media consumption, to pace and protect yourself. The news won't go away.
9. Act in community
Research has shown that being involved in a community of like-minded people is even more helpful when it comes to dealing with climate anxiety than just taking action on your own. On the one hand, it helps to feel connected to others for this cause, sharing thoughts, feelings, and anxieties. On the other hand, collective action can have greater impact, and there’s a reinforcing effect as everyone works together towards a common cause. Again, know that things take time. Know your limits.
10. Work with a counsellor
If climate anxiety persists and you are not feeling balanced, consider working with a good therapist. Psychotherapists and counsellors are increasingly meeting clients reporting these feelings, so choose one whose presence and approach work well with you. Know that of the anxiety you are feeling may have roots in a predisposition to anxiety overall, but some of it will be very current. There are ways to address both.
The road to changing the trajectory of global warming will be a long one. Our feelings about how it is showing up in our lives, and how it may show up for our children and theirs, are valid. Giving ourselves the space and permission to look after our minds so that we can take responsible action, is something that each of us can do.
Photo credits (from the top): Q. Hưng Phạm, Francesco Ungaro
