Eco Anxiety and what to do about it

Today's Costing the Earth on Radio 4 looked at a growing phenomenon: 

Eco Anxiety

Costing the Earth

Is the future of the planet making you depressed? Do you feel paralysed, unable to imagine the happiness of future generations? 

As global governments fail to respond to the existential crisis of climate change it’s understandable that some people seem unable to conjure up a sense of hope, understandable that dozens of young British women have joined the Birthstrike movement, refusing to bring more children into the world. 

Verity Sharp meets the eco-anxious and asks if they are ill or simply more perceptive than the rest of us.

BBC Radio 4 - Costing the Earth, Eco Anxiety

As a mental health condition, it is gaining ground:
Radio 1 & 1Xtra Stories - Me & My Eco Anxiety - BBC Sounds
Eco-anxiety: Do you have climate change anxiety? What is the mental health condition and how to deal with it | London Evening Standard

With this recent piece from BBC Three:

'Eco-anxiety': how to spot it and what to do about it

Feeling overwhelmed by the existential challenge of climate change? You’re not alone

Dave Fawbert

27 March 2019

The headlines detailing extreme weather events seem to come at you day after day. Your social feed - and just stepping outside - alerts you to record temperatures being set. And yet, still, some people in positions of power deny its full impact.

Meanwhile, an academic paper on climate change - that is so grim it apparently resulted in people going to therapy - has gone viral, with some reports suggesting it has been downloaded more than 110,000 times.

In the words of the 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, who founded the school strike for climate movement in 2018: “Adults keep saying, we owe it to the young people to give them hope. But I don’t want your hope, I don’t want you to be hopeful, I want you to panic.”

Climate change: Are you suffering from ‘eco-anxiety’? - BBC Three

Do we learn to live with it - and act on it - or do we try to 'cure' this condition? 

Here are some thoughts:
Eco-Anxiety Isn’t New, and It’s Time to Deal with It
How to cure the eco-anxious | Wellcome Collection
Amazing Tips To Deal With Eco-Anxiety
Climate change: are you suffering from eco-anxiety, what is it, and how can we feel less stressed about environmental damage. 

And here are a few more:

Have Anxiety About The Future Of Our Planet? Here's How To Cope

By Meg Lazaros

2 May 2019

There's a term for what I (and many others) feel: "Eco-anxiety" is described as worry, depression, or anxiety that is triggered by an awareness of the environmental woes we face. According to a recent poll, nearly three-quarters of millennials experience it to some degree after reading or listening to the news. And hot damn, for those who feel it, we can tell you it is real. Like real, real. Like sit-on-the-couch-and-wallow-about-the-impending-doom real. The International Psychoanalytical Association has officially recognized climate change as "the biggest global health threat of the 21st century."

The good news? There are ways to combat these feelings other than having a good cry or screaming at the top of your lungs (which, for the record, can be satisfying sometimes too). Here are a few that I've found helpful...

Eco-Anxiety: How To Turn Fear Into Action

Meanwhile, in dystopia-land:

Futures Forum: Utopia/Dystopia: looking forward to the end of the world

Futures Forum: 'Utopia for Realists' >>> Don't Despair: Big Ideas Can Still Change The World

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