Why Is Saving The Planet So Stressful?

The younger generation can unlearn the mistakes of the past to forge new opportunities for the planet and all of its inhabitants.

CULTURE

WORLD

5 MINS READ

DATE

AUGUST 8, 2023

AUTHOR

Anna Fleck

Anna is a journalist with a background in international news and storytelling. Her focus became environmental and social justice issues, which she is now learning how to approach through a lens of data journalism.

IMAGE

Saïd Abitar is a scenographer and illustrator who studied and graduated at La Cambre Brussels. He also worked there as an intern atelier assistant and teacher at Saint Luc Brussels. Drawn to performing arts and cinema at first, his work as a designer rose to the next level along his partnership with the multimedia company Tales of us, on their project Congo Tales, a photography book illustrating the tales and legends of the native people of Congo’s Rainforest.

“Facing the ecological crisis has become a developmental issue and a task that every contemporary person has to face”, said Panu Pihkala, one of the world’s leading eco-anxiety specialists. He speaks calmly and matter-of-factly over a Zoom call as he dials in from Helsinki on a snowy January morning.

He continues: “Where professional educators used to say children should not be taught about ‘big tragedies before grade seven’, there’s evidence that now even children in daycare have heard of the climate crisis.”

So, what exactly are ‘eco-fear’ and ‘eco-anxiety’?

When kept in check, ‘eco-fear’ is a rational response to the climate crisis. At this stage it can be used as a motivational power for good and it can inspire change.

However, when it starts to impacting on everyday life with symptoms such as insomnia, catastrophising or negative ruminating thoughts, it becomes more problematic. This combination of feelings becomes ‘eco-anxiety’, which the American Psychological Association defined in 2017 as “a chronic fear of environmental doom.” Not ideal, huh?

Who does it affect?

The term has been criticised for seeming classist; like a complex reserved for those of privileged, industrialised societies. While it’s true that we have heard more about the climate breakdown from these voices lately, research tells us that climate distress is felt disproportionately by disadvantaged communities and those who face socioeconomic inequalities, who more often than not are black, Indigenous and people of colour.

Eco-anxiety can affect someone at any age, but we are now seeing a surge in the number of children experiencing it, with half of UK child psychologists saying their patients are feeling distress over the future of the planet.

In fact, in September 2021,