Conversing about Eco-Emotions is A Life-Preserving Practice
Human health is inextricably linked with the environment, so the health effects that result from a rapidly changing climate are vast. With heatwaves increasing in frequency and severity, more people are experiencing life-threatening heat stress. Wildfire smoke lowers the quality of the air we breathe (even when we live far away from the actual burning). Warming temperatures and flooding can increase the spread of vector-borne diseases from mosquitoes. Unpredictable growing seasons and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide affects the abundance and quality of our food. With more extreme weather events, the risk of mortality and displacement from climate-related disasters is increasing. The list goes on and on.
Illustration by Maisie Conrad-Poor
This leads us to the effects of climate change on mental health, a topic much less commonly discussed. How did reading the above paragraph make you feel? I can tell you that writing it was hard. Receiving constant negative messaging about the state of the climate takes a toll. I was born in the late 90s, and it has been almost normalized to my friends and I that we, and our potential children and grandchildren, might not have a future on this earth.
What?
In addition to having to internalize these ominous predictions, we are also living with the stress of experiencing the effects of climate change in real-time. People around the world are seeing the deterioration of ecosystems they enjoyed as children, being displaced from extreme weather events, losing access to traditional ways of life, and living in unprecedented instability. Widespread environmental injustice means marginalized communities are bearing the brunt of these impacts. No wonder there is mounting evidence that climate change (and accompanying government inaction) is negatively affecting mental health.
Many terms have recently emerged to describe some of these emotions regarding our changing environments:
Eco-anxiety is commonly used to describe anxiety or worry about climate change and its effects.
Climate grief refers to how it feels to mourn the losses associated with climate change--whether that be species that go extinct, homes, lifestyles, etc.
Solastalgia describes distress experienced while directly connected to a home environment that is being degraded. “A form of homesickness one gets when still at home.”
Pre-traumatic stress is the feeling of anticipated trauma and loss from climate change.
Whatever we may call them, these eco-emotions are important to articulate. There is a great need for health professionals to be informed about these feelings and what might help people experiencing them. Climate change is currently affecting all of us, and as it becomes increasingly undeniable we will need a strategic mental health approach.
Addressing difficult eco-emotions will not only benefit our collective mental health but also help us detangle and unravel the core issues of climate change and fight for a better future.
Without spaces to process difficult eco-emotions, we are forced to turn to denial, apathy, and hopelessness. Alone, the problem can seem insurmountable. How many times have you heard someone refer to total climate collapse as inevitable? The narrative of inevitability and individualism has been embraced by the fossil fuel industry for decades and we simply cannot accept it. Together, we must engage in life-saving re-imagination.
Illustration by Maisie Conrad-Poor
The first step is to talk about how we are feeling with others. You might be surprised at how many of your friends, family, and neighbors are grappling with some version of these eco-emotions. The massive scale of climate change cannot be tackled solely by individuals. There is power in grieving within a community. Climate cafés and similar spaces for climate conversations are being created for this purpose.
If we can talk about, navigate, and support each other through the emotional challenges of climate change, we can build a better future together. The empathetic conversation found in a climate café is a wonderful demonstration of the community care we need to extend to heal the root causes of climate change entrenched in power, greed, and unregulated capitalism. Listening to those who are disproportionately experiencing the impacts of climate change is essential to move forward.
To be clear, the objective of eco-emotion discussions is not the same as climate action; rather, they work alongside it. It is important to have spaces purely for sharing feelings without pressure to jump into action. Engaging in climate work can be exhausting, and thoughtful climate conversations can be restorative.
In order to face the magnitude of the climate crisis, we have to face the emotional reality, too. Climate change is undeniably overwhelming and scary. How we deal with these feelings and support each other through them will characterize our overall response. If we acknowledge how painful it is to undergo irreversible climate change, we can authentically engage in efforts to halt it. And if we listen closely to those who contribute least to climate change and are most impacted by its effects, we may start to prioritize our collective humanity over profit.
