Coping With Climate Change Anxiety |
Take our Climate Anxiety Test
Find a therapist near me who can help with anxiety.
Anxiety is a normal, healthy emotion that serves a protective function in high-risk situations.
It’s important to understand the difference between pain and suffering when it comes to anxiety.
There are cognitive and behavioral coping skills that can help ease anxiety.
When things start to feel overwhelming, come back to what’s true for you today.
If you live in or near a mountainous state, you know that this has been an exceptionally mild winter with historically low snowpack. Within my circle of outdoor enthusiast friends here in the Pacific Northwest, palpable fear is mounting.
What does this mean for summer?
Will we be in for yet another difficult wildfire season?
This fear extends far beyond the immediate concern for the upcoming season and summer plans.
Will every summer be like this from here on out?
What kind of planet will be here for my kids when they get old?
I write this post not as a weather or climate change expert, but as a psychologist who understands anxiety, an outdoor athlete impacted by climate change, and as a human being who shares these same fears.
First, let’s normalize feeling anxious about climate change.
We are biologically wired as humans to experience fear and anxiety in response to dangerous and/or life-threatening situations. Anxiety is a normal, healthy emotion that serves a protective function in high-risk situations. The human mind has evolved not only to respond to danger in the present moment but also to predict and anticipate danger in the future.
Climate change poses a real, immediate risk to our safety........