Eco-Anxiety: A Major Challenge for Our Generation

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Eco-anxiety is a growing concern globally, leading to distress due to increased awareness of climate change. This study delves into the impact of eco-anxiety, exploring how individuals cope and engage with environmental issues.

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ECO-ANXIETY: A MAJOR CHALLENGE FOR OUR GENERATION Juliette Huber, L a Pedrazzi, Elisa Ch vre Master student in clinical Psychology University of Lausanne / Switzerland 22ndEUSUHM Potsdam October 2024

Table of Content 1. Definition 2. Background 3. Research Question 4. Methods 5. Results 6. Hypothesis 7. Limitations 8. Conclusion 2

1. Definition How do you understand the term eco-anxiety ? Eco-anxiety : A sense of distress due to a global awareness of climate change (Benoit et al., 2021; Godden et al., 2021; Reyes et al., 2021; Sternudd, 2020; Strife, 2011 in Brophy et al., 2022) 3

2. Background Eco-anxiety is a main concern in most continents (Petit et al., 2022) Climate change has negative effects on human health (Brophy et al., 2022; Watts et al., 2019) The effects can also be on an emotional level (Hickman et al., 2021) Eco-anxiety is connected to symptoms such as frustration and feeling helpless ( goston et al., 2022) Coping mechanisms are used to get trough this fear ( goston et al., 2022) Eco-anxiety can be useful because it may help for adaptation mechanism (Kurth, 2018) 4

3. Research Question How does experiencing eco-anxiety push individuals to take more proactive measures in favor for the environment? 5

4. Methods The qualitative approach focused on participants' lived experiences Exploratory research 3 semi-structured flexible interviews with guided and open-ended questions Analysis: Coding of the interviews to identify key themes Braun & Clarke s method used (2006): familiarisation, coding, theme organisation 6

5. Results Six different categories emerged as the main trends in our data: 1. Emotional management 2. Political and environmental engagement 3. Social responsibility 4. Resources 5. Social impact 6. Expectations and perspectives for the future 7

5. Results : Emotional management Disagreement over the definition of the term Eco-anxiety VS eco-anger No, it's more about anger, because we already know, from the media, we've known very well since the 1980s about the existence of this problem. Marc, 28 I would say that eco-anxiety is somewhat this feeling of powerlessness that leads to anxiety, this feeling of helplessness in the face of climate change. Laura, 22 8

5. Results : Emotional management Themes of mental burden In everyday life, I try to produce as little waste as possible each time, but it takes time, mental energy Laura, 22 I try, I never take the plane, I ve flown only once in my life, I almost don t eat meat, and I use all my things for a very long time I really try to do a lot of things like that. Marc, 28 9

5. Results : Political and Environmental Engagement Not feeling seen nor heard Coping by being as eco-friendly as possible You hear that a lot of things are being put in place. Like, yeah, that's it. But in reality, nothing is really happening. Marie, 25 But do I feel heard? Well, I don t think so, it s just that they do whatever they want. Marie, 25 10

6. Hypothesis Sense of global denial Eco- anger/anxiety Political engagement becomes passive Dissatisfaction with the system Feeling unseen and unheard 11

7. Limitations A qualitative method involves a specific context Results cannot be generalized The data are subjective Lack of heterogeneity 12

8. Conclusion Eco-anxiety is more than fear ; it's a catalyst for action The qualitive approach we used enable us to get into the personal stories of our participants The feeling of eco-anger emerged from our studies 13

Bibliography goston, C., Csaba, B., Nagy, B., K v ry, Z., D ll, A., R cz, J., & Demetrovics, Z. (2022). Identifying Types of Eco-Anxiety, Eco- Guilt, Eco-Grief, and Eco-Coping in a Climate-Sensitive Population: A Qualitative Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(4), 2461.https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042461 Benoit, L., Thomas, I., & Martin, A. (2022). Review : Ecological awareness, anxiety, and actions among youth and their parents a qualitative study of newspaper narratives. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 27(1), 47-58. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12514 Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa Brophy, H., Olson, J., & Paul, P. (2023). Eco anxiety in youth : An integrative literature review. InternationalJournal of Mental Health Nursing, 32(3), 633-661. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13099 Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, R. E., Mayall, E. E., Wray, B., Mellor, C., & Van Susteren, L. (2021). Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change : A global survey. The Lancet Planetary Health, 5(12), e863-e873. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00278-3 Kurth, C. (2018). The anxious mind: An investigation into the varieties and virtues of anxiety. MIT press. Petit, G., Teinturier, B., Chand z , E. (2022, 8 d cembre). Changement climatique : Un scepticisme croissant. Ipsos. https://www.ipsos.com/en/obscop-2022 Watts, N. et al. (2019). The 2019 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change : Ensuring that the health of a child born today is not defined by a changing climate. The Lancet, 394(10211), 1836-1878. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32596- 6 14