Ecoanxiety: the impact of the climate crisis on mental health

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The climate crisis can leave marks on mental health. This was clear with hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, which in their wake left cases of post-traumatic stress and depression in some people. More than just concern about the fate of humanity, those who experience the consequences of droughts, heat waves, fires, intense hurricanes and floods report anxiety, stress, hopelessness and trauma. The populations that have the most difficulty recovering from these cataclysms are the most affected.

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In other people, fatalistic visions of an increasingly terrifying near future take hold as information becomes available about the progress of the climate emergency, pollution or the accelerated loss of species. Whether directly or not, and depending on the degree of vulnerability of each person, the notion of environmental decline can affect well-being to the extent of causing mental disturbance, intrusive thoughts or problems with work and sleep.

For example, in the first large-scale research on climate anxiety, which involved 10,000 people between 16 and 25 years old from ten countries, 75% said “the future is scary” , in addition, 50% said they felt sadness, anxiety , anger, helplessness and guilt.

La ecomigración y la ecoansiedad pueden afectar el bienestar mental de una comunidad.
Eco-migration and eco-anxiety can affect the mental well-being of a community. MAX ZOLOTUKHIN/GETTY IMAGES
Results published in The Lancet  show that more than 45% believe that their emotions on this issue negatively affect their daily life and functioning ; while 56% said they felt that "humanity is doomed."



Worrying about planetary decline and understanding that the current civilizational project causes it is, without a doubt, part of getting out of the problem, but ecoanxiety goes beyond being aware of what is happening in the world. According to the American Psychological Association (APA ), this is “the chronic fear of suffering an environmental cataclysm that occurs when observing the apparently irrevocable impact of climate change, and the associated concern for the future of oneself and future generations.