According to’American Psychological Association, eco-anxiety can be defined as “a chronic fear of environmental catastrophe.” An increasingly frequent anxiety. In 2021 according to The Lancet Planetary Health, 59% of young people aged 16 to 25 said they were “very” or “extremely worried” about climate change. In March 2022, the Environmental Health Foundation had also shown with its barometer “The French and environmental health” that 3 out of 4 French people felt anxiety about the environment. Movement We are ready wanted to know a little more about this growing phenomenon that is eco-anxiety and launched two studies whose results will be revealed in 2024.
The first results of the quantitative study, carried out in collaboration with Pierre-Éric Sutter, psychologist-psychotherapist and OBSECA, the first results of which were revealed with the launch of the “Are you freaking out? » thus show that the subject of eco-anxiety is a real problem. 75% of respondents can be considered “eco-conscious”, the Hogg scale measuring different intensities of their “eco-anxiety” level (intensity assessed with five categories ranging from slightly eco-anxious to very strongly eco-anxious according to 4 families of distinct symptoms). Among these eco-conscious, 20% of respondents are “eco-concerned”, according to two degrees of intensity, moderately and strongly eco-anxious. Finally, 5% say they are very eco-anxious, to the point that their mental health is threatened.
Eco-anxiety: what definition and what causes?
A contraction of ecology, in the sense of science which studies the relationships of living beings with their environment and of anxiety, this term was invented in 1997 by Véronique Lapaige, a Belgian-Canadian doctor-researcher in public health and mental health. “According to the dictionary definition, eco-anxiety is anxiety caused by environmental threats to our planet. I define eco-anxiety as a set of normal emotional reactions to a situation of real ecological dangers. Indeed, even if it is painful, eco-anxiety is a healthy and intelligent reaction, in the sense that it informs us, rightly, of the concrete dangers represented by climate change, the decline in biodiversity, the disruption of the water cycle and all the dangers linked to crossing other planetary boundaries. In this sense, it would perhaps be better to speak ofeco-lucidity“specifies Yvan Marc Juillard, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist based in Saint-Étienne and author of the work Eco-anxiety, better manage your emotions linked to climate change (Ed. La Plage)
This fear is caused by current upheavals such as floods, fires and even storms, but also by future threats linked to climate change. It is of course the state of the planet and what man has done to it that is at the origin of eco-anxiety. “The cause of eco-anxiety is simple: violence against ecosystems, human and non-human. Our emotions inform us that the livability of the world is threatened. Eco-anxious people are aware that we are heading towards disasters when we could do otherwise : help each other! Eco-anxious people are in this sense completely reasonable and pragmatic people who understand that continuing business as usual will undoubtedly lead us to even more difficulties.“, indicates Yvan Marc Juillard.
Eco-anxiety: what symptoms?
Eco-anxiety manifests itself as a state of psychological unease that impacts a person’s moods or behavior. It is not considered by specialists as a pathology strictly speaking but as a form of anxiety faced with the seriousness of environmental issues. It manifests itself in different ways depending on the person. Thus eco-anxious people may have nausea, tachycardia or chest pain characterized by the famous feeling of oppression. Others have insomnia, eating disorders, suffer from obsessive thoughts or are prone to panic or anxiety attacks.
Most eco-anxious people feel sadness, fear, have a feeling of helplessness, frustration, anger and can even feel paralyzed in the face of climate issues. They sometimes encounter difficulties in social interactions or at work and can also develop real depression.
Eco anxiety: what solutions?
What to do when eco-anxiety becomes difficult to bear? According to Yvan Marc Juillard, it is often difficult as the emotions can overwhelm the person who suffers from them. However, the psychologist insists on the fact that they can invite you to get moving. “When our eco-anxious emotions invade us, they invite us to take care of ourselves. If we are sad, perhaps it is an invitation to take care of those around us or our garden. If we are angry, perhaps they invite us to engage in militant action. When fear is paralyzing, perhaps it is an invitation to cut off social networks and the news in favor of contact with the people we love. When the feeling of guilt is too attacking, perhaps it is an invitation to change the way we live now. In all cases, it is always useful to go for a walk in nature, to strengthen our humility because we are just a little ant in a big forest“, he advises.
To relieve your fears and anxieties, you can start by verbalize them by talking about it to your loved ones without being afraid of judgment. As such, if you do not include eco-anxious people, do not judge the person around you who suffers from it. “Take the time to listen to what she feels and what she thinks. Regularly, it is a subject of conflict within families because parents take these feelings lightly.notes Yvan Marc Juillard.
To deal with this dull fear, you can also try to anchor yourself in the present to avoid projecting yourself too much into a distressing future and to get moving. This is, in fact, the moment, if you feel capable, to make a concrete commitment to the environment. You can thus join associations that fight for ecology but also cooperatives or citizen initiatives, participate in collective vegetable gardens or repair cafés or in climate marches, sign petitions so that companies evolve towards more environmental protection. sustainability or get involved politically. By participating in these group actions, you will see that you are not alone in the face of your anxieties and, as the proverb says, there is strength in numbers!
If this form of commitment doesn’t tempt you, you can also simply take action every day by thinking about what you eat, what you buy and how you move. Please note that if you don’t know where to start, you can participate in workshops organized by the IDée Network or join the initiative The Week which consists of watching a documentary and discussing it in a group in order to determine possible solutions for everyone to act at their own level. Podcasts recommended by Yvan Marc Juillard like Basil with Jeanne Or Ecoenthusiasts with Laetitia and Anais can also provide you with food for thought.
An exercise to practice every day for eco-anxious people
In his work, Eco-anxiety, better manage your emotions linked to climate changeYvan Marc Juillard also offers an easy exercise for eco-anxious people to implement. “First, when you experience an emotion, learn to feel it in your body. To do this, formulate the sentence: “I make room for my emotion. » Secondly, you can regulate your emotions by learning, for example, emotional regulation“, he explains.
Yvan Marc Juillard advises, when you have a strong emotion, to close your eyes and ask yourself the question: “What does this emotion cause in my body?” Then observe three physical sensations (for example: stomach ache, compressed chest, tight throat) and just let them pass without doing anything to calm them. Open your eyes and to check if the exercise was successful, think back to the situation that caused your emotional difficulty. If you no longer feel anything unpleasant in your sensations, the regulation has been effective. If an emotion returns, start the exercise again.
“If you don’t get there right away, that’s okay. Like all learning, regulating and managing emotions takes time, but you can be sure that by regularly connecting to physical sensations, you will calm your emotions a little. Also, since everyone is different, do not hesitate to experiment with other tools such as EFT, sophrology, mindfulness meditation and many others“, advises Yvan Marc Juillard who, although he recognizes the suffering caused by eco-anxiety, believes that it does not only have bad sides!
“It is reassuring that the population feels fear, because without this fear of the future, there is no change possible. The function of fear is to protect us from danger and people who have eco-anxiety (or eco-lucidity) know in their thoughts and feel in their emotions that a change in society is essential, to not to say vital! Somehow, eco-anxiety is an invitation to “common sense”, to the collective and to respect for the living and livable world“ !
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