Louise Garcia // Photo credit: MAYLIS ROLLAND / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
The Senate looked into eco-anxiety this Wednesday. With several psychiatrists and psychologists, elected officials discussed this concern which can become real anxiety for some, to the point of affecting their mental health. Eco-anxiety, a disorder that is still little known, including among health professionals, but which is believed to be increasingly widespread in the population in recent years.
More than half of young people aged 16 to 25 say they are very worried about climate change and for 35% of them it goes even further. This is the case of Camille, 23 years old. “Walking into a store with the smell of new clothes scares me. This whole atmosphere of consumption actually makes me uncomfortable. Almost, in every situation in my life, I think about ecology. After doing something that I don’t consider eco-friendly, it’s a feeling of guilt that comes over me, I’m going to think about it,” says the young woman.
Medical solutions to treat this disorder
Fortunately, like most anxiety disorders, there are medical solutions. “The goal is to listen to what they have to say and then give them space to speak. Then, there is support when there are really annoying problems around stress, anxiety and depression with specific treatments, therefore therapies in general which allow you to better manage your stress and emotions. And in the most serious disorders, there can even be medicinal treatments”, explains Professor Antoine Pelissolo, head of the psychiatry department at the Henri Mondor hospital in Créteil.
Professor Pelissolo also encourages eco-anxious people to get involved in environmental associations: being surrounded and taking concrete action for the environment could relieve them, and remove a feeling of guilt.