If you look around the news and social media, you’ll find that many discussions on climate change and mental health have focused on eco-anxiety, and the problem with doom-and-gloom rhetoric.
Defined as "a chronic fear of environmental doom," eco-anxiety or climate anxiety has been documented to be on the rise, particularly among young people. As a result, “A growing number of researchers, activists and mental health professionals are now urging those in the climate movement to embrace more hope and adopt a softer tone,” according to Inside Climate News.
Conversations like these have been welcome and necessary–especially because the notion that we’re “doomed” is just false.
But new data indicates that, when it comes to mental health and climate change, it’s not enough to place the blame on “tone.” Because a striking number of people experiencing climate-related mental health challenges are not reacting to fear of the future. They’re reacting to the trauma of the present.
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