How to Cope with Climate Anxiety

If the effects of global warming keep you up all night or trigger anxiety and sadness, you may be struggling with climate anxiety (aka climate grief). Here’s a look at this growing problem and what you can do to stop being knocked down by all the bad news.

Burning forests, starving polar bears, and poisoned fish. It’s all so heartbreaking and right now seems to be part of the daily news cycle. For some, the constant reminders of environmental destruction have a psychological impact.

People all around the globe are mourning a changing planet and feeling depressed about global warming—especially Millennials and Gen Zers.

“For me, it’s a David versus Goliath situation,” says Rohan Chandrashekhar, 35, a marketing executive at a firm in India. “There’s definitely a sense of helplessness and frustration that things are not moving as fast as we would like.”

This fear and anxiety surrounding global warming aren’t out of the blue.

The August 2021 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was an alarming call for action. The latest report—written by over 200 of the world’s top climate scientists—declared that in the next 20 years, the Earth is on course to reach or surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming over pre-industrial levels. Some consider that the global tipping point.

That change in temperature is significant, according to experts, because it will cause a destructive rise in sea levels. A 2 degree Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) warming of the planet will result in intense heat that threatens agriculture and makes severe weather events—like floods, droughts, and marine heatwaves—more common.

The authors made it clear that our only chance of preventing this warming trend—beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit)—is with radical transformative action to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions.

The term “ecological grief” was first used in a 2018 paper where it was described as a response to the loss of cherished species, ecosystems, and landscapes due to climate change. The authors of that report—health researchers Ashlee Cunsolo, PhD, and Neville R. Ellis, a research fellow at the University of Australia—researched the emotional impact of disappearing land due to climate change through the lived experience of indigenous Inuit people in Canada and farmers in the Australian Wheatbelt.

Today psychologists use the term climate grief to refer to feelings of sadness, loss, and anxiety in response to climate devastation. How common is climate grief? A 2019 poll by the American Psychological Association revealed that 68% of US adults are experiencing at least a little anxiety about climate change. And almost half (47%) of young respondents aged 18 to 34 said their anxiety about the climate was affecting their daily lives.

A growing number of therapists are equipping themselves to help clients with climate-related distress.

Andrew Bryant, MSW, LICSW, a Seattle-based therapist, felt compelled to learn about climate grief several years ago. Clients were showing up to his office with grief and anxiety related to the problem—one of them experiencing intrusive visions of “an apocalyptic future” for their child.

To compensate for a lack of training in this area, Bryant became focused on learning about the emotional impact of climate change and promoting discussion on climate-related psychology through a website he created for that purpose.

While both climate grief and eco-anxiety are relatively new terms, climate grief is typically used to describe sadness associated with ecological loss, whereas eco-anxiety refers to apprehension about future ecological loss.

Bryant explains how the two concepts are linked. In his practice, he sees feelings about climate change manifesting under two broad categories—grief and fear.

“I think grief as loss or anticipated loss,” he says, explaining that this grief can occur in response to something we’ve lost or something we foresee ourselves losing. Climate grief can also be directed at other people’s losses in the future, manifesting as sadness and anxiety about future generations inheriting a depleted planet.

Fear, Bryant says, is another big category. “Fear for the future, fear for our safety, fear for other people, and loved ones.” And this fear, if left unresolved, can leave us “stuck” in a state of anxiety. All these feelings can overlap, he says, and people vacillate between feelings of anxiety and sadness about the climate crisis.

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Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross first outlined the five stages of grief in the late 1960s when studying how people react to news of terminal illness. Climate scientist Steve Running, PhD, later used this model to describe the five possible stages of climate grief.

Here’s how climate grief might manifest (keep in mind that, like in Kübler-Ross’ findings, these stages can occur in any order, can overlap, or some may not manifest at all, for some people):

Stage 1: Denial

Some people flat-out deny that global warming is a problem. They either don’t believe the climate is warming or they doubt that humans are the ones responsible. Alternatively, they might believe in the science but refuse to recognize the need for change. Denial initially helps people avoid the pain associated with climate destruction, but ultimately, encourages inaction.

Stage 2: Anger

Learning about climate change can sometimes lead to feelings of anger. This anger may surface at the idea of having to alter one’s lifestyle to protect the planet. Other times, anger is felt in response to governmental inaction toward the climate crisis. While anger is a normal emotion, too much anger can worsen anxiety and up your risk of heart disease.

Stage 3: Bargaining

When faced with the bleak scientific data about the climate crisis, some look for a silver lining. They may bargain about climate change by concluding that warmer weather may not be the worst thing, while ignoring serious side effects, like raging wildfires and intense weather events. Similar to the first two stages, people in the bargaining stage aren’t compelled to take action against the crisis.

Stage 4: Depression

When grief for the climate becomes too heavy, people can land on feelings of numbness and depression. Bryant says that deep grief can cause people to feel overwhelmed and shut down. Climate grief can also lead some to become so involved in climate activism they eventually burn out.

Stage 5: Acceptance

When people have come to terms with the severity of the climate crisis and are ready to explore solutions, they’re at the acceptance stage. Calmly accepting the scientific facts, they’re able to stay motivated and focus on actions to protect the planet. Bryant says he has successfully helped clients reach a mindset where they can “feel their grief and also take action that’s meaningful and sustainable.”

Climate grief encompasses sadness and fear for all of the Earth’s living creatures, plants, and ecosystems. When such profound grief takes hold of you, it can make you feel very alone. Here are some tips for coping with grief for the climate.

1. Feel Your Grief

According to Bryant, one of the first steps to coping with climate grief is letting yourself feel your feelings. Accept all your emotions—like sadness, worry, anger—without judging them or pushing them away. Acknowledge that the emotions you’re feeling about global warming are real and valid, and as Bryant says, “the reality of being a human in this particular time.”

Yvonne Cuaresma, 27, founder and CEO of the Climate Journal Project, found a unique way to process the stress and tension she was feeling about the changing climate. She began filling the pages of diaries. Through the Climate Journal Project, she encourages others to do the same, providing climate-related journal prompts and offering free live sessions where participants can share their reflections with others.

While it sounds cliché, talking about your feelings can help you feel less lonely. Bryant recommends seeking out a safe person to talk to you—whether a friend, a family member, or a therapist.

The Climate Psychiatry Alliance and Climate Psychology Alliance North America have put together a directory of mental health professionals who are prepared to help clients with climate distress. You can use their search tool to find a climate-aware therapist near you.

Note: If you’re feeling suicidal, please seek help. You can reach the US National Suicide hotline 24/7 at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or visit this link for a list of international suicide hotlines.

2. Know You’re Not Alone

There are billions of people on the planet (an estimated 7.7 billion to be exact!) and many of them are experiencing similar worries. In fact, so many are experiencing anxiety over the climate crisis that a new discipline of psychology is now devoted to researching the mental health impacts of climate change.

While global warming used to be at the back of people’s minds, these days, the urgency is on most people’s radar today. According to a massive poll by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which surveyed over half of the world’s population and covered 50 different countries, 64% of people feel that climate change represents a global emergency.

If you’re feeling isolated, Bryant recommends connecting with a local climate support group. On his website, Climate & Mind, you’ll find a resource section with links to workshops, and discussion groups. You can also search on Facebook for a local climate group or visit the Good Grief Network to see if there’s a workshop near you.

3. Recognize That Saving the Climate Isn’t Your Job

The weight of the world isn’t yours to bear alone and no one person is responsible for global warming. Bryant says he’s encountered clients who believe, subconsciously, that it’s their job to solve the climate crisis. And when they don’t know how to do this, they feel like a failure.

Remind yourself that some things are out of your control and some ecological losses are unavoidable. Tackling climate change is a massive project, and you can’t do it alone. “We really need everybody,” Bryant says, “in all skills and mindsets.”

Remember, there are people all over the world who are engaged in climate activism. now that’s something to feel good about! Among these comrades are thousands of expert climate scientists. As of 2021, these scientists have published more than 100,000 scientific papers documenting the effects of climate change.

How’s that for a team effort?

4. Find Your Way of Taking Climate Action

Once you’ve felt through your grief, Bryant says that taking action can be a meaningful and positive way forward. It’s about looking within and asking yourself what strengths, capacities, and resources you can bring to the climate activism table.

For Bryant, his calling was in climate-related mental health. For Nivi Achanta, a 25-year-old from Seattle, hers was launching the Soapbox Project.

Achanta was at first unsure where she fit in as a climate activist. “I felt so helpless,” she explains, “because I recognized that I was part of the problem. but I didn’t know how to be part of the solution.”

So, she started a climate newsletter. It includes weekly action plans to help fight climate change. These “bite-sized” emails, she says, allow busy young people like herself to “take meaningful action on what matters to them, even if they only have a few minutes each week.”

Achanta explains how working on Soapbox helps her channel her anger and grief about climate disruption into action. “I’m no longer a bystander watching the world burn. I’m an active participant taking steps in my own life and motivating others to do the same. in a way that brings us joy and closeness.”

If you feel called to take action, search for an activist group in your area. Individual actions might feel small, but they’re crucial for spreading hope, incentivizing governments to take action, and setting global change in motion.