In simple words, yes!
Climate anxiety is where you have feelings of unease, worry and nervousness surrounding the climate and it’s a very valid emotion.
Why might someone have climate anxiety?
Climate anxiety can be caused by many different things which include;
🍓 Feeling like you aren’t doing enough
🍇 Getting frustrated that people in power such as the government and big companies aren’t making the changes they need
🥥 Feeling under a time crunch as you’re worried that it will get too late
🥝 Knowing that people know what is going on but aren’t bothered about doing anything about it
Climate change is having a massive effect on our environment. For example, there are more floods, tropical storms, hurricanes, droughts and so on.
Because of these more regular disasters, someone’s climate anxiety can be heightened and can be very hard for someone to deal with. As it may cause people to isolate themselves, cause friction within relationships and even lead onto other struggles.
However, sometimes a good amount of anxiety can make you act on making a difference. You can use your anxiety to fuel the fight in you to make a change in the world.
How can someone manage climate anxiety?
🤩 Talk to someone you trust, a therapist or even a group
🥳 Acknowledge climate change and the anxiety that comes along with it
🧐 Take action – Create campaigns, start making small difference in your life to help with the cause
🤪 Find a supportive community
Turning climate anxiety into something positive!
There are many ways you can turn your climate anxiety into something positive by helping improve climate change such as recycling and reusing. Taking public transport and riding a bike or walking rather than taking a car. As well as changing lifestyle habits such as becoming vegetarian or vegan. Other than this you can educate others and yourself by researching how else you can help out. Lastly, stay informed and be the change you wish to see.
Overall, climate anxiety is something that many people feel and it’s nothing to feel ashamed of just because you feel like it’s just you. Climate anxiety can’t be pinpointed to just one thing as there are many things that can cause your climate anxiety. However, there are many things that you can do to make the difference.