A growing number of people are experiencing growing levels of anxiety as the unprecedented heat waves and wildfires here in BC and globally (California, Siberia, Greece, Turkey), and recently released IPCC 6th Assessment report raise awareness and understanding of what climate change portends for us. Even the term unprecedented may be called into question, as each new fuelled fire season, each new extreme weather event becomes the next new unprecedented. Whether in response to the current risks and evidence of the widespread changes and losses we are experiencing as a result of climate change, or the anticipatory/transitional grief that comes from looking ahead to the climate impacted future, the increasing awareness of the changes and losses that are to come are increasing a shared sense of dread and sadness. Climate grief and anxiety (also known as ecological grief and eco-anxiety) are intertwined, real, and for many, can feel debilitating. So, what can we do in the face of those intertwined and often overwhelming emotions? How do we move from despair to action?

What we know about anxiety, depression and grief is that ignoring these emotions over the long term is not helpful and most often leads to them intensifying. So, the first step in navigating these emotions is naming them and allowing ourselves to feel them. As humans we experience a range of emotions. Grief, anxiety, and sadness are part of the spectrum of normal emotional responses we have to challenging contexts and issues. Grief is not only about loss, it is about the disorientation that important losses can inspire – this untethering of the spirit and our identity that can feel as though one is suddenly a fish out of water. Climate change not only poses immediate threats such as the current wildfires and heatwaves, it poses an existential threat – a threat to our very being – our sense of self and of place, and our future, and the future of those we love and that which we love. It is throwing us out of the water of familiar and often unquestioned assumptions about the trajectory of our lives and the life of the planet. By naming and speaking about these emotions of grief and anxiety we begin to individually and collectively contribute to an understanding that these feelings are a rationale response to an extreme situation and to the increasingly bleak picture that climate-induced losses, changes, and uncertainty is painting.

Bearing witness to and validating these emotions as something that an increasing number of people are sharing, and as a ‘normal’ response to the context of uncertainty and loss, can reduce any sense of shame about experiencing these emotions. Moving into action, even small actions, can help reduce the sense of powerlessness and helplessness that fuel depression and anxiety. This can include small actions such as practising gratitude, taking time out and getting out into nature, all of which can increase a sense of hope and wellbeing. Bringing your life into greater alignment with your own values by reducing your personal/household carbon footprint and making climate-informed consumer choices can contribute to a sense of congruence and improved mental health. Finding and building community where you can share not only how you are feeling but also move into collective action can reduce the sense of isolation associated with grief and anxiety. Collective actions (e.g., advocacy, shareholder influence, voting, formal and informal leadership) that focus on systems change are likely to have a bigger impact and contribute to a greater sense of agency and hope.

To learn more about climate change and mental health check out:

  1. Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impact, Implications and Guidance. American Psychological Association.
  2. Canadian Psychological Associations Climate Change and Anxiety Fact Sheet
  3. Hayes et al (2019) Factors Influencing the Mental Health Consequences of Climate Change in Canada and Hayes et al (2018). Climate change and mental health: risks, impacts and priority actions

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