What is Eco Anxiety?

This pandemic has made us all wary of nature’s whims. However, there are many who are more than just concerned about the deteriorating state of human environment. This sense of impending doom is so strong that it qualifies as a chronic fear called eco-anxiety. Increasing number of youth are faced with news and stories everyday about the degrading quality of environment and the effects of human activities that catalyst the natural disasters and the demise of multiple species of animals and plants. Eco-anxiety was first defined in 2017 by the American Psychological Association as “a chronic fear of environmental doom.”

We are all experiencing some fear about the impact of our actions on the coming generations and their world, some have even resigned to an inevitable fate.

Some worry about the melting glaciers and diminishing populations of polar bears, while some lose sleep over the increasing plastic waste that will take millions of years to go off the face of earth.

Eco-anxiety is an advanced stage of fear that displays similar symptoms to general anxiety from loss of sleep and appetite, panic attacks and nightmares to actual physical pain. All these symptoms are associated with the thoughts of a rapidly degenerating earth. It is a serious affliction that we all face today.

Everywhere you turn, all forms of media present a bleak picture of climate change and its consequences. Documentaries on popular streaming sites, leading journals and newspapers, movies, and television shows are all spreading the message of a world on the brink of collapse. The line between awareness about environmental responsibility and alarmism causing  hopelessness is blurring.

This rising mental health phenomenon sheds light on the need to practice self-compassion and mindful climate education. Environmentally responsible lifestyles must be coupled with a forgiving approach to times when you must take less than ideal routes. This, and formal education about climate change and its challenges will help us battle this hurdle and raise children who are less anxious and more passionate

This post was written and researched by our amazing Marketing Coordinator Vyoma!  Show her some love in the comments!