{"id":27608,"date":"2023-09-05T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T15:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=27608"},"modified":"2023-10-01T09:01:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T16:01:48","slug":"got-climate-anxiety-youre-not-alone-but-heres-how-to-cope","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/got-climate-anxiety-youre-not-alone-but-heres-how-to-cope\/","title":{"rendered":"Got Climate Anxiety? You&#8217;re Not Alone, but Here&#8217;s How to Cope"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><b>By Jennie Rose<\/b><\/h4>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With climate-related events bombarding us on a seemingly daily basis, there&#8217;s naturally a corresponding increase in<\/span><b> eco-anxiety<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a chronic fear of environmental devastation. The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Independent Lens <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">short documentary <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/everything-wrong-and-nowhere-to-go\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everything Wrong and Nowhere to Go<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> inspired me to explore this relatively new form of anxiety, and look for ways to slow the roll of those all-pervasive doom thoughts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How to Find Balance in the Midst of Climate Crisis | PBS Short Docs\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NRs27xxANnU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><b>The Hot States of America<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thanks to climate change, more and more people understand what anxiety feels like. In the past, well-meaning, non-anxious peers might advise you to &#8220;chill out&#8221; or &#8220;calm down!&#8221; without realizing that when anxiety hijacks the brain, it takes practice and time to calm down.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the planet heats up and we try to confront the crisis, a few additional hard-wired survival responses tend to kick in. Signs of climate anxiety might be <\/span><b>disassociation, dysphoria, poor sleep, loss of appetite<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or even <\/span><b>hoarding<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Any or all of these warn that the nervous system needs help turning down the volume on stress.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many of us feel struck motionless by a sense of numbness. In psychological terms, this numbness is brought on by an emotional &#8220;<\/span><b><i>hot state.<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8221; No, this doesn&#8217;t refer to Texas, but instead to an elevated feeling of panic and pain (while a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cold state<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, less influenced by emotion, is usually more rational and logical). <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hot states tend to have a measurable effect on the body<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/2018\/04\/22\/the-empathy-gap-the-cognitive-scapegoat-least-likely-to-earn-you-brownie-points-in-intimate-relationships-or-with-hr\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CogBlog out of Colby University<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, &#8220;The <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">theory suggests that people in one physical or emotional state find it difficult or impossible to imagine living in another.&#8221; <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The nervous system completely forgets what it is to feel safe, which then can distort the ability to think or make decisions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-27610\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Climate-Anxiety-Self-Care-Checklist-Instagram-Story-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"776\" height=\"1380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Climate-Anxiety-Self-Care-Checklist-Instagram-Story-1.png 1080w, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Climate-Anxiety-Self-Care-Checklist-Instagram-Story-1-338x600.png 338w, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Climate-Anxiety-Self-Care-Checklist-Instagram-Story-1-720x1280.png 720w, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Climate-Anxiety-Self-Care-Checklist-Instagram-Story-1-768x1365.png 768w, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Climate-Anxiety-Self-Care-Checklist-Instagram-Story-1-864x1536.png 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 776px) 100vw, 776px\" \/>\n<p><b>Transforming Yourself with Climate Truth<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After experiencing a hot state about ten years ago (she calls it a &#8220;climate freakout&#8221;), psychotherapist-turned-climate activist Margaret Klein Salamon learned to cope by working with the global nonviolent movement <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/rebellion.global\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Extinction Rebellion<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in London\u2014where every few hours, the staff takes a mental health break to have a dance party. Generally speaking, she feels a lot happier now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This change in direction could be described as &#8220;enlightened self-interest,&#8221; said Klein Salamon when I spoke to her. &#8220;There are two kinds of selfish: \u2018Smart selfish\u2019 is to do meaningful work and participate in community; and &#8216;stupid selfish&#8217; is when people respond to climate change by saying, &#8216;I need more money. I need more <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">things<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.'&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;The idea is to move out of numbness and into the realization that if the oceans die, we die,&#8221; Klein Salamon said. &#8220;If the forests die, we die.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Self-Compassion<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to meditation, there are several practices for lowering the volume on climate-related stress. Research psychologist Kristin Neff, Ph.D., has been studying <\/span><b>self-compassion<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for 20 years. &#8220;As long as you\u2019re a flawed human being, that\u2019s the only check box you have to check to be worthy of compassion,&#8221; said Dr. Neff. &#8220;Self-compassion is not self <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">focused<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It\u2019s not about me as an individual. It\u2019s about life, human experience, which is intrinsically worthy of compassion.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr. Neff\u2019s studies show that treating ourselves with the same kindness, care, and concern that we would give a good friend decreases anxiety. As mammals, we respond to warmth, soothing touch, and gentle vocalizations. Tap into that by putting both hands over your heart or holding your own hand.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pay attention to your feelings, then speak to yourself as you would to a friend. Give yourself permission to be kind and soothing.<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"2-Minute Tips: How to Practice Self-Compassion\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Qes9HoxfkE0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><b>Reconnecting in a Smaller World<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Climate change has been described as a crisis of disconnection. LaUra Schmidt, of the climate psychology program at the California Institute of Integral Studies, has said that &#8220;any movement toward healing requires deep reconnection: with ourselves, each other, and the more-than-human world.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bill McKibben, climate activist and founder of the international climate solution organization 350.org, writes about social connection and climate in his substack <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/billmckibben.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Crucial Years<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. McKibben explains that as global heating shrinks the size of the board on which we play the game of life, we need to relearn lost practices of mutual aid.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;G<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">et to work building that kind of social trust in as many places as possible, because we\u2019re going to need it,&#8221; wrote McKibben. &#8220;We\u2019ve come through 75 years where having neighbors was essentially optional: if you had a credit card, you could get everything needed to survive dropped off at your door. But the next 75 years aren\u2019t going to be like that; <\/span><b>we\u2019re going to need to return to the basic human experience of relying on the people around you.&#8221;\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-link\"><a class=\"related-link__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/the-pursuit-of-app-iness-can-tech-help-soothe-anxiety\/\"><div class=\"related-link__subhead\">Related<\/div><div class=\"related-link__title\">Can Tech Help Soothe Anxiety?<\/div><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social connection also motivates us to protect what we care about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, when <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">teens from the South Pacific<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">island of Mo\u2019orea<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> noticed ocean conditions were causing coral reefs to disappear, they founded the Coral Gardeners restoration project. In 2022,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the nonprofit planted 15,225 nursery-grown corals.<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A Farm Beneath the Sea | Moorea Coral Gardeners\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TOCIcWoQvEU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><b>Gen Z Staying Interconnected\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our youngest generations have the largest stake in protecting the future, and transitional-age youth (16-25) face intersectional problems that other generations have not dealt with.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After working with patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postcarbon.org\/pre-traumatic-stress-disorder-and-the-imagination-with-lise-van-susteren\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr. Lise van Susteren<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> coined another term: <\/span><b><i>pre<\/i><\/b><b>-traumatic stress disorder.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8220;I was recognizing I had some of those same symptoms in anticipation of, or envisioning, what I&#8217;d been hearing awaits us on climate,&#8221; she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr. van Susteren, who testifies in class action suits against the fossil fuel industry, like the recent, historic Montana youth <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">climate trial<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, knows firsthand that youth are the most susceptible to the impacts of climate change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"pbs-viral-player-wrapper\" style=\"position: relative; padding-top: calc(56.25% + 43px);\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0;\" src=\"https:\/\/player.pbs.org\/viralplayer\/3083587886\/\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Not everybody hears you all the time, especially with teenagers,&#8221; said Freshta Tori Jan, a delegate to the second Congress of Youth Voices. &#8220;A lot of people [think] \u2018They\u2019re young, and have a bunch of time.\u2019 Really, we <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">don\u2019t <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">have a lot of time. We are all affected by one another.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the inaugural Congress of Youth Voices in 2018 in San Francisco, youth delegates from more than 30 different countries gathered to build the bonds of connection and mutual support. Chosen for their commitment to issues, most notably climate change, students, writers, and community leaders came up with an intersectionality manifesto by the youth, for the youth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"International Congress of Youth Voices 2018\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wwawlpN_4xQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><pullquote class='left'><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>&#8220;Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world within our reach&#8221;<\/strong><\/pullquote><\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Stay with the Trouble<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We can support one another by cultivating a tolerance for our uncertainty about the future. Moment-by-moment, we can learn from each other how best to respond. Our task is to develop skills to overcome the numbing, to build our capacity to engage, and to &#8220;stay with the trouble&#8221; (to borrow a phrase from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/read.dukeupress.edu\/books\/book\/27\/Staying-with-the-TroubleMaking-Kin-in-the\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Donna Haraway<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;There\u2019s a fundamental optimism at the heart of every activist,&#8221; said Dr. van Susteren. &#8220;That\u2019s why we\u2019re out there at the barricade, or interrupting meetings, or putting up solar panels, or planning a vegetable garden. This is all about optimism. [As Alexander Pope wrote], \u2018As the twig is bent, so the tree is inclined.\u2019&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world within our reach,&#8221; wrote Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Est\u00e9s in her <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mavenproductions.com\/letter-to-a-young-activist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Letter to a Young Activist During Troubled Times<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A primary goal is &#8220;to not allow yourself to be taken in a flurry of overwrought emotion or despair\u2014thereby accidentally contributing to the swale and the swirl.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Laughter and Other Creative Outlets<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And for times when it can\u2019t be &#8220;all about optimism,&#8221; or &#8220;staying with the trouble,&#8221; the Bay Area\u2019s Mental Health Comedy Hour (&#8220;We&#8217;re Not OK, and That&#8217;s OK!&#8221;) opens the door to a bit of unhinged laughter in the &#8220;jovial environment of a late night talk show.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Mental Health Comedy Hour&quot; | Xpress Magazine, San Francisco State University\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Cr6-n7VyNxY?start=20&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;The comedic approach is not just simply a matter of making someone laugh. It&#8217;s a way to open people up,&#8221; said professor of environmental studies at University of Colorado Max Boykoff, who <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teenvogue.com\/story\/comedy-about-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">co-created a creative climate communication course<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in which students developed comedy sketches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During 2023 stand-up show &#8220;<\/span><b>lol climate change<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8221; in Hollywood, comedians told their &#8220;hottest and wettest&#8221; while host Jenn Yang read from the &#8220;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/lifestyle\/lifestyle-news\/good-energy-climate-change-playbook-screenwriting-1235133098\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Good Energy Playbook<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,&#8221; a new resource for screenwriters portraying climate emergencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"lol climate change: a show\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fYgsYeudoas?start=468&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether we wedge the door open with just a toe, or boldly step through with eyes wide open, we each in our own ways can prepare to face the next phases of our changing planet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-27688\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Jennie-Rose-Author-Pic-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Jennie Rose author pic, with glasses\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Jennie-Rose-Author-Pic-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Jennie-Rose-Author-Pic-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Jennie-Rose-Author-Pic-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Jennie-Rose-Author-Pic.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>Jennie Rose<\/strong> is a mental health advocate who also writes about plant medicine and climate change. Her other<\/em> Independent Lens <em>articles include\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/banking-on-seeds-rare-diverse-and-endangered\/\">&#8220;Banking on Seeds&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/pollution-environmental-public-service-announcements-look-back\/)\">&#8220;A Look Back on Pollution PSAs&#8221;<\/a>. Jen&#8217;s hobbies to help with climate anxiety include jiu-jitsu, watercolor, and learning guitar.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jennie Rose With climate-related events bombarding us on a seemingly daily basis, there&#8217;s naturally a corresponding increase in eco-anxiety, a chronic fear of environmental devastation. The Independent Lens short documentary Everything Wrong and Nowhere to Go inspired me to explore this relatively new form of anxiety, and look for ways to slow the roll [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":27641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1357],"tags":[],"topic":[1253,1254,1219],"class_list":["post-27608","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-the-films","topic-climate-change-2","topic-disease-and-mental-health","topic-health-and-environment"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Your Guide to Coping with Climate Anxiety | Blog | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Eco-anxiety and climate change anxiety are on the rise, for obvious reasons. 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