As a psychologist who works with children and youth, PhD student Tara Crandon has noticed fear and grief about climate change entering the therapeutic space more regularly.
News, images and videos of wildfires, floods, and heatwaves continue to spread internationally, which has led to increased awareness and attention in society.
Emerging research has highlighted concern for the physical and psychological health of humans as a result of climate change.
Head of the Mental Health Program at QIMR Berghofer, Professor James Scott said a lot of young people are concerned about climate change, but what is not clear is whether this kind of anxiety is a state of ill health or a natural response to a clear and present threat.
Climate anxiety is the fear, worry and dread felt in relation to the climate crisis.
“We know that anxiety comes up when faced with a threat. Climate change is a global, real significant threat that is already happening and we’re already seeing significant ecological losses in different parts of the world. We also know that this is only going to become worse if climate change is not sufficiently mitigated,” Tara said.
“Climate anxiety is really quite a normal, rational response given the massive threats we’re facing and some research shows that it is linked to pro-environmental behavior.”
For some people it is an adaptive response that can be channeled into empowerment.
“But what we are also noticing is that some people do feel overwhelmed by their climate anxiety and it impairs their ability to act or engage in a way that they normally would.”
Some individuals experiencing climate anxiety report restlessness, irritability, panic, and sleep disturbance.
Children and youth may be particularly affected by climate anxiety.
When Madeleine Flynn’s 8-year-old son Eddie decided to enter a story in a children’s creative writing competition, she was wasn’t surprised. What did surprise her was the topic of the story – climate change. Eddie’s story was about a scientist travelling to the future. As the scientist descends into a time travel portal, it gets very hot and there is rising water. The humans in the future have gills and fins, as the planet is mostly water. At the end of the story, he warns the scientist to stop polluting the earth, to avoid turning into “creatures like us.” ‘I didin’t know climate change was even on his radar.’, said Madeleine. ‘It made me realise that children today really do think about what their future will look like, even at such a young age. I do feel the need to reassure him that the future isn’t as bleak as it seems, but that can be a difficult task.’ |
“This is no surprise, given that they will bear the greatest burden of climate change across the course of their lives.”
Tara said anxiety can be helpful. If we think about young people and school exams, socializing, or performing, they’re usually going to experience some type of anxiety.
“We all do and that anxiety can be inherently helpful because it helps us to prepare for that speech, that exam, that interview, or that performance.”
“It will help us get ourselves out of the climate crisis,” she said.
It starts to become unhelpful when a person’s response is out of proportion to what the threat is, and when it starts to impair a person.
“The thing is, climate change is such a complex and serious issue, so that anxiety response can never be out of proportion to what the threat is. That’s why we’re saying it is such a natural, expected response and in some cases, it is really helpful.”
“And we just want to make sure that those people who are overwhelmed or impaired by their climate anxiety are supported.”
“It can’t be solved at the individual level. We really need to come together and collectively act and support each other as we adapt to this,” she said.
“If we’re expecting children and youth to sustain and maintain our future we want to make sure they can adapt to the climate crisis as best as possible.”
Research about climate change anxiety is an emerging field.
“There is research that is becoming more significant around climate change and mental health more generally. But when we’re looking specifically at psychological responses like climate anxiety, it is very emerging,” Tara said.
“It’s all very new and there isn’t a lot of consensus in the literature as to what is the actual conceptualisation of climate anxiety so that’s a big gap that we’re trying to address with my PhD research.”
Tara’s research focuses on adolescents between the ages of 12-17.
“There are indications they might be more overwhelmed by climate change than children because we know hopelessness increases around adolescence and there are a couple of studies that show adolescents are less able to act, so we’re interested in that population specifically.”
“Climate change is an issue that young people in Australia really do care about. It’s something they speak about a lot.”
“We need to listen to our young people and understand that it is such an important issue for them.”
By better distinguishing adaptive anxiety about climate change from climate anxiety that causes impairment, Tara hopes those adolescents most affected can be supported.
“We’re wanting to do that so that we can better screen for climate anxiety and so support can be delivered.”
“We hope that in providing a better understanding of climate anxiety in youth, it will help to guide parents, teachers and health practitioners who are working with young people to support them as they adapt to this global challenge,” said Tara.
| When Madeleine Flynn’s 8-year-old son Eddie decided to enter a story in a children’s creative writing competition, she was wasn’t surprised.
What did surprise her was the topic of the story – climate change. Eddie’s story was about a scientist travelling to the future. As the scientist descends into a time travel portal, it gets very hot and there is rising water. The humans in the future have gills and fins, as the planet is mostly water. At the end of the story, he warns the scientist to stop polluting the earth, to avoid turning into “creatures like us.” ‘I didin’t know climate change was even on his radar.’, said Madeleine. ‘It made me realise that children today really do think about what their future will look like, even at such a young age. I do feel the need to reassure him that the future isn’t as bleak as it seems, but that can be a difficult task.’ |
For further information on how to cope with anxiety about climate change, Tara has provided the link below about self-help strategies and information about how to seek further support.
https://au.reachout.com/articles/how-to-cope-with-anxiety-about-climate-change
We are recruiting schools across Queensland, Australia to participate in the “the How I Feel About Climate Change” survey. If you are interested in participating as a school, please contact tara.crandon@qimrberghofer.edu.au.
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