S1 E6: Eco-anxiety & the mental health toll

S1 E6: We’ve heard about the physical tolls of climate change; the catastrophic weather events like wildfires and heat waves. Now, Christina wants to know about how it’s affecting our mental health. How do we cope with all of the big emotions that climate change brings up? What do we do with feelings like anxiety, grief, anger, and fear? And, is there a role for the other side of the emotional spectrum to play; the joy, hope, and love? 

Christina talks with author Michele Wucker about one of the first reactions many people have when faced with climate change: denial and avoidance. She likens these big crises to gray rhinos. They’re right there, charging at us, so how do we get from denial to action?

Many young people have been raising the alarm about this “rhino,” after all, they’ve been saddled with the worst effects of this crisis. Georgia Wright, co-creator of the podcast series Inherited, shares insight into the generational psychology of climate change. She brings up an important term that many people of all ages are grappling with: climate anxiety.

Christina looks to Professor Sarah Jaquette Ray for a definition. She helps uncover the wide range of emotions that we might be feeling when it comes to climate change. Professor Ray emphasizes an alternative way of approaching climate change, one that moves beyond urgency, dystopia, and despair. 

Highlights:

• The very human way many people respond to big crises (5:21)
• How young people are coping with climate change (7:09)
• Defining climate anxiety -- and understanding how to deal with it (11:42)
• Moving through burnout, despair, and urgency (18:57)
• What does joy have to do with all of this? (21:45)

Terminology:

• Gray rhino
• Climate/Eco anxiety

Resources:

• Learn more about Michele Wucker’s The Gray Rhino
• Listen: Inherited podcast
• Read Sarah Jaquette Ray’s A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety
• Why Most Americans are Dealing with Climate Anxiety
• Using Art to Process Eco Anxiety