https://news.trust.org/item/20220210091958-dwe56/

 

Global warming is not just bringing rising sea levels and extreme weather events but also a growing tide of climate fear and anxiety around the world.

 

From heat-linked suicides in Mexico and the United States to the young adults who fear the future is too uncertain to have children, campaigners and health experts have warned that action is needed to tackle a hidden climate mental health crisis.

Young people appear to be particularly badly impacted: a large international study last year found nearly six in 10 were very worried about climate change, while children are more likely to see it as a crisis than older generations.

So what can you do if you are struggling with eco-anxiety? The Thomson Reuters Foundation asked mental health experts and prominent climate campaigners to share their tips on tackling climate fears and building resilience.

Here's what they said:

"The best cure ... for climate anxiety is action, because as soon as you start to act, bit by bit, the crisis starts to feel less like an apocalypse and more like something we can still solve.

"I'm still scared every day, but every day I choose to act - and that is the only thing I've found that helps."

Phoebe L. Hanson, British climate activist

"Talk about it. The #1 emotional experience I have had reported through my years of climate work is alienation. The feeling that 'no one understands' how bad it is.

"Talking to friends and family, talking to climate activists, talking to a therapist ... it's all good. You might be surprised how receptive people are, and that they have been struggling with similar things."

Margaret Klein Salamon, psychologist and founder of Climate Awakening