‘Eco-anxiety’: The new hysteria
As young people continue to grapple with lockdown-induced psychiatric disorders, media outlets and political leaders are reporting another hysteria gripping today’s youth: eco-anxiety.
According to the American Psychology Association (APA), eco-anxiety is “the chronic fear of environmental cataclysm that comes from observing the seemingly irrevocable impact of climate change and the associated concern for one's future and that of next generations.”
An APA study published in 2020 claims that two-thirds of Americans suffer from “eco-anxiety”.
One of those Americans is the child of Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA), who the lawmaker says suffered from eco-anxiety.
"I remember my middle child waking up with nightmares over concern around climate change,” Clark told NBC’s Chuck Todd on Meet the Press Monday.
A 2021 preprint study of 10,000 people 16-25 years old found that 84% are “at least moderately worried” about climate change, with 59% “very or extremely worried.”
“Over 50% felt sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty,” says The Lancet study’s authors. “Over 45% said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily life and functioning, and many reported a high number of negative thoughts about climate change.”
However, instead of addressing why children and young adults are feeling anxious about the weather, or who is saddling them with fear for "next generations” the researchers conclude, “There is an urgent need for increases in both research and government responsiveness” to climate change.
But for the youth of East Anglia, England, there is hope.
A new course begun last month at the University of East Anglia (UAE) called “Mindfulness and Active Hope” aims to “help students cope with eco-anxiety, cultivate self-care, and understand how to transform their fear and grief on issues like climate change." The course is the first of its kind in the UK and runs from 6 PM to 8 PM every Wednesday.
Azza Dirar, the co-founder of the course, clarified. “The focus is not on the overwhelming bleak evidence of climate change and environmental degradation, but rather on how we can act with courage and wisdom during a time of looming ecological and societal collapse.”
Media outlets are also trying to draw attention to the new mania.
“Eco-anxiety: Worrying about climate change can be stressful but it can also help to spur us into action,” reads a headline from BBC Science Focus last week.
“Worried about climate change, you may have eco-anxiety,” reads another from Spectrum News.
“Eco-anxiety: Meaning, causes, symptoms, and tips to overcome,” was the title of a NewsBytes article Monday.
Last month, the World Economic Forum (WEF) proclaimed that “eco-anxiety is a mental health crisis.”
“Eco-anxiety is harming young people's mental health — but it doesn't have to,” reads a November headline from the WEF. The elite globalist organization laments the great mental health crisis facing youth today but says the answer to that is “combating climate change,” not psychotherapy or other mental health treatments.
