Have you ever felt a knot in your stomach at yet another headline about wildfires, droughts or record heatwaves? That mix of fear, helplessness and guilt about the future of the planet has a name: eco-anxiety. You are not weak or overreacting — it is an increasingly common response, and understanding it is the first step to not being overwhelmed by it.
The term was defined in 2017 by the American Psychological Association together with the organisation ecoAmerica as “a chronic fear of environmental doom”. It is not an illness, but an understandable emotional reaction to a real threat. And it affects a great many people — men and women, young and old alike.
Just how widespread it is was shown by a study published in 2021 in the scientific journal The Lancet Planetary Health. Researchers surveyed ten thousand young people aged 16 to 25 across ten different countries: 59% said they were very or extremely worried about climate change, 84% at least moderately worried, and almost half reported that these feelings negatively affected their daily life, from sleep to concentration. For three out of four young people, “the future is frightening”. Those numbers tell us something important: if you feel this anxiety, you are in good company.
The real question, though, is not how to erase eco-anxiety, but how to live with it in a healthy way. The first step is to name what you feel, without judging yourself: acknowledging the emotion makes it less overwhelming. Next, it helps to reduce constant exposure to bad news — that endless stream of scrolling that fuels distress without giving us any tools. In its place, one concrete action is worth more than a thousand worries: sorting your waste with care, cutting waste, walking instead of driving, joining a group or a local initiative. Research shows that climate anxiety, when channelled, can turn into useful action and protect our well-being.
Because this is the heart of the matter: fear alone paralyses; but turned into a small step, it becomes energy. Caring for the planet and caring for yourself are not opposite paths — they are the same path. You do not have to save the world alone today; it is enough to do your part, calmly and consistently. And to remember that every shared gesture, added to that of millions of others, truly counts.
Sources
- Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, R. E., Mayall, E. E., 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, 5(12), e863–e873.
- American Psychological Association & ecoAmerica (2017). Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance — definition of “eco-anxiety”.
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