Climate Anxiety: Why Climate Change Is Affecting Our Mental Health and How to Cope

Have you ever found yourself feeling emotionally overwhelmed after reading about another devastating flood, heatwave, wildfire, or record-breaking temperatures? Have you wondered what kind of world future generations will inherit, or felt guilty about your own environmental impact? If so, you’re not alone.

As a Counselling Psychologist, I’ve noticed that conversations around climate anxiety are becoming increasingly common. Interestingly, people rarely walk into therapy saying, “I think I have climate anxiety.” Instead, they describe feeling anxious about having children, helpless after watching climate news, distressed by worsening air pollution, or uncertain about the future.

These experiences point to a growing psychological phenomenon known as climate anxiety, also referred to as eco-anxiety.

What Is Climate Anxiety?

Climate anxiety is the emotional distress people experience in response to climate change and environmental uncertainty. The American Psychological Association (APA) defines eco-anxiety as “a chronic fear of environmental doom.”

Importantly, climate anxiety is not currently recognised as a mental disorder in the DSM-5 or ICD-11. Rather, psychologists understand it as a natural emotional response to living in a world where environmental changes are becoming increasingly visible.

Feeling concerned about climate change does not mean something is wrong with you.

In many cases, it means you’re paying attention.

Signs You May Be Experiencing Climate Anxiety

Climate anxiety looks different for different people. Some common experiences include:

• Feeling overwhelmed after reading climate-related news.
• Constantly worrying about the future of the planet.
• Anxiety about having children because of environmental concerns.
• Feeling helpless or powerless in the face of climate change.
• Guilt about travel, waste, or personal environmental choices.
• Avoiding climate news because it feels emotionally exhausting.
• Difficulty sleeping after hearing about environmental disasters.
• Feeling grief over the loss of nature or changing landscapes.

These emotions exist on a spectrum. For many people, they motivate positive action. For others, they become overwhelming and begin affecting daily functioning.

Why Is Climate Anxiety Increasing?

From a psychological perspective, anxiety often develops when we perceive a significant threat but feel we have little control over it.

Climate change creates exactly that experience.

It is:

• Global
• Ongoing
• Complex
• Uncertain
• Personally relevant

Our brains evolved to respond to immediate dangers. Climate change, however, represents a long-term threat that unfolds gradually, making it difficult for our minds to know how to respond.

As a result, many people experience a combination of uncertainty, helplessness, sadness, and fear.

Climate Anxiety Is More Than Anxiety—It Can Also Be Grief

One of the most important concepts emerging in climate psychology is ecological grief.

People are grieving disappearing winters, shrinking green spaces, biodiversity loss, worsening air quality, and environmental changes occurring within their own communities.

Another powerful concept is solastalgia—the emotional distress experienced when the place you call home changes while you’re still living there.

Imagine watching your childhood neighbourhood become increasingly polluted, seeing familiar trees disappear, or experiencing extreme heat that changes the way you live your everyday life.

This isn’t simply environmental change.

It’s emotional loss.

A Story From Therapy

To protect confidentiality, the following is a composite case based on experiences shared by multiple clients.

I remember working with a father in his early forties who initially believed his anxiety was caused by work stress. As therapy progressed, he shared something deeper.

Every night after his daughter went to sleep, he found himself reading article after article about heatwaves, floods, water shortages, and climate change.

He told me,

“I keep telling myself I’m just trying to stay informed. But instead of feeling informed, I feel terrified.”

Then he paused and said,

“I’m not really scared for myself anymore. I’m scared that my daughter will inherit a world that’s hotter, harder, and less safe than the one I grew up in.”

His anxiety wasn’t simply about climate change.

It was about love.

It was about responsibility.

It was about wanting to protect someone he cared deeply about.

Together, we shifted the focus from trying to control the entire future to identifying meaningful actions within his control. He reduced doomscrolling, spent weekends planting trees with his daughter, joined a local environmental initiative, and intentionally created moments of joy and connection in nature.

The climate hadn’t changed overnight.

But his relationship with uncertainty had.

That shift—from helplessness to purpose—is often where healing begins.

What Does the Research Say?

Climate anxiety is no longer considered a niche issue.

One of the largest international studies, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, surveyed more than 10,000 young people aged 16–25 across ten countries.

The findings were striking:

• Nearly 60% reported feeling very or extremely worried about climate change.
• Around 45% said these worries affected their daily lives, including sleep, concentration, relationships, education, and future planning.
• Many participants described feeling anxious, sad, guilty, powerless, and betrayed by the perceived lack of action on climate change.

These findings highlight that climate change is not only an environmental challenge—it is increasingly becoming a mental health and public health concern.

How to Cope With Climate Anxiety

The goal isn’t to stop caring.

The goal is to care in a psychologically sustainable way.

Here are some evidence-based strategies I often discuss with clients:

1. Set Boundaries Around Climate News

Staying informed is important.

Constant exposure isn’t.

Ask yourself:

“Am I becoming more informed—or more overwhelmed?”

Consider limiting news consumption and avoiding doomscrolling before bedtime.

2. Focus on Your Circle of Influence

You cannot solve climate change alone.

But you can contribute meaningfully.

Small actions matter.

Reduce waste.

Conserve water.

Support local environmental initiatives.

Plant trees.

Volunteer.

Meaningful action helps restore a sense of control and reduces helplessness.

3. Spend Time in Nature

Research consistently shows that spending time in natural environments supports emotional wellbeing, reduces stress, and improves psychological resilience.

Reconnect with the very thing you’re trying to protect.

4. Practice Psychological Flexibility

One of the most powerful skills in therapy is learning to hold two truths at the same time:

Climate change is real.

And meaningful, hopeful action is still possible.

Psychological flexibility allows us to acknowledge uncertainty without allowing it to dominate our lives.

5. Stay Connected

Climate anxiety can feel isolating.

Talking with trusted friends, joining community initiatives, or seeking professional support can reduce feelings of loneliness and helplessness.

Remember, healing often happens in connection with others.

A Final Thought

One of the biggest myths about climate anxiety is that it’s a sign of weakness.

I see it differently.

Often, it reflects how deeply we care.

We care about our children.

Our communities.

Future generations.

The places we call home.

As psychologists, our goal isn’t to help people stop caring.

It’s to help them care without becoming overwhelmed.

I’d like to leave you with a thought I often share with clients:

“Climate anxiety isn’t the opposite of hope. In many ways, it’s evidence that hope still exists. Because we only grieve what we love, and we only fight to protect what we still believe is worth saving.”

And perhaps that’s the most important message of all.

Hope isn’t pretending climate change isn’t real.

Hope is believing that even in uncertain times, our actions still matter.

Watch the Full YouTube Video

If you’d like to explore this topic in greater depth, including the psychology behind climate anxiety, ecological grief, and evidence-based coping strategies, watch my full YouTube discussion here:

🎥 https://youtu.be/LxTb18qT3LA?si=fE6HxltvQvtApHhG

If climate anxiety is affecting your emotional wellbeing or daily life, remember that you don’t have to navigate these feelings alone. Seeking support is a sign of strength, and with the right tools, it is possible to care deeply about the future while continuing to live with hope, resilience, and purpose

Reference

Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, R. E., Mayall, E. E., Wray, B., Mellor, C., & van Susteren, L. (2021). Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: A global survey. The Lancet Planetary Health, 5(12), e863–e873. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00278-3

For readers who want to access the paper directly:

📄 Read the study here: The Lancet Planetary Health – Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: A global survey

Further Reading

• American Psychological Association. Mental Health and Our Changing Climate (guidance on the psychological impacts of climate change).
• Hickman C. et al. (2021). Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: A global survey. The Lancet Planetary Health. Read the research
• Wu J., Snell G., & Samji H. (2020). Climate anxiety in young people: A call to action. The Lancet Planetary Health. Read the commentary