How Climate Change Affects Our Emotional Well-Being and it's called Eco-Anxiety
People all over the world are feeling everything from anxiety and depression to hope and determination as the effects of climate change become more obvious. Eco-anxiety, defined as "a feeling of fear, helplessness, and despair because of environmental deterioration and the possibility of catastrophic climate change," is one of the most common of these feelings.
Although the notion of eco-anxiety is not new, it has recently received increased attention as the effects of climate change have gotten more severe and widespread. Studies have revealed that eco-anxiety can negatively affect mental health by making sufferers more prone to stress, anxiety, and despair.
Eco-Anxiety: What Is It?
Concerns over the environment and climate change can lead to a specific form of anxiety known as "eco-anxiety." It affects everyone from individuals to entire nations that are cognizant of the potential outcomes of climate change. Eco-anxiety can manifest itself in a variety of ways, including mental ones (such feelings of hopelessness, despair, and guilt) and physiological ones (including exhaustion and insomnia).
Eco-anxiety is most prevalent among the youth, the female, and those with a high level of environmental concern, according to a study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. Younger people and female participants reported higher degrees of eco-anxiety, although over 70% of the 600 participants overall reported having eco-anxiety.
Mental Health and Climate Change
Research is indicating that the effects of climate change can have serious consequences for people's mental health and happiness, strengthening the evidence linking climate change and mental health. Climate change is having an influence on mental health now, and it will have far greater effects in the future, according to a study published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health.
Climate change has been linked to a variety of mental health problems, including PTSD, according to a recent study (PTSD). Extreme weather events, food and water shortages, and relocation due to flooding or other natural disasters are just a few of the ways that climate change can negatively affect people's mental health.
Anxiety about the environment has been linked to a lack of action on climate change, according to a study published in the journal Global Environmental Change.
Reducing Environmental Worry
Eco-anxiety calls for a holistic response, including both individual and community efforts. Reducing one's carbon footprint through actions like utilising public transportation, switching to a plant-based diet, and cutting back on energy use can help folks feel less hopeless and depressed.
Combating eco-fear requires individual effort and group effort. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, switching to renewable energy sources, and investing in climate adaptation and resilience are all things that governments, businesses, and organisations can do.
Different Research on Eco Anxiety
- About 70% of the 600 participants in a research published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology reported experiencing some level of eco-anxiety.
- Younger participants and female participants in the same study also reported higher degrees of anxiousness.
- Climate change is having an influence on mental health now, and it will have far greater effects in the future, according to a study published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health.
- Increases in stress, anxiety, sadness, and other mental health issues were linked to climate change in the study.
Eco-anxiety is on the rise as people worry about the increasingly severe and widespread consequences of climate change. Studies have revealed that eco-anxiety can negatively affect mental health by making sufferers more prone to stress, anxiety, and despair. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and investing in climate adaptation and resilience measures are two key ways in which individuals and communities may work together to ease eco-anxiety.
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