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Eco-Anxiety and Pandemic Distress: Psychological Perspectives on Resilience and Interconnectedness
Abstract
In recent decades, as environmental destruction has become more extreme and prevalent around the planet, the way that humans experience the natural world has also changed, giving rise to more frequent and intense experiences of eco-anxiety. Not simply personal or social, eco-anxiety is distributed across the relationships that humans have with the life, land, air, and water of Earth. This anthology presents international and interdisciplinary perspectives on eco-anxiety, with attention to two of the most prominent sources of eco-anxiety today: the COVID pandemic and the climate crisis. From the microscopic scale of viruses to the macroscopic scale of Earth’s atmosphere, instability in natural systems is causing unprecedented forms of psychological distress, including anxiety and related emotional or affective states like grief, anger, guilt, and depression. To tackle crises of such unprecedented scope and impact, we need to expand beyond mainstream behavioral research approaches to include also rigorous methods from the human sciences. This book both builds upon and moves beyond the latest research in environmental psychology, conservation psychology, and clinical psychology. Dominant research paradigms in these areas rely primarily on experimental and observational methodologies that analyze quantitative data. In contrast, this book focuses on sophisticated traditions of social and cultural psychology in dialogue with other disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. The result is a nuanced understanding of the human experience of confronting eco-anxiety, offering critical insights into the subjective worlds of individuals as they grapple with the intertwined existential threats of the climate crisis and pandemics.
... When evaluating the design of biodegradable materials, several key considerations have to be considered into account. These considerations include various aspects, including the material's composition, decomposition rate, mechanical properties, and environmental impact [29]. ...
The study paper investigates the rapidly evolving field of sustainable design and the increasing acceptance of biodegradable materials in the method of developing products. This research explores the movement towards environmentally conscious designs in light of increased environmental concerns and increasing customer demand for goods that are sustainable. This study addresses a range of biodegradable materials, examining their corresponding characteristics and investigating their integration into product design in various industries. This research discusses some of the challenges encountered in the purchase, production, and promotion of biodegradable products, all the while assuring their practicality and physical appeal. Also, the article examines the environmental consequences linked to these materials, drawing comparisons with traditional non-biodegradable alternatives. This study utilizes a mixture of theoretical analysis and case studies to offer useful insight into efficient techniques for implementing materials that decompose into product design. The research places a strong focus on achieving an equilibrium between ecological responsibility, practicality, and appealing to consumers.
Increasing temperatures, severe storms, wildfires, and melting sea ice have made climate change a reality for Canadians. Climatic change can cause experiences of grieving and loss, often termed ‘climate grief.’ Our objective was to better understand emotions related to climate change by developing a typology illustrating the ways people in Canada express climate grief. In a scoping review (in English and French) of databases, popular media, social media, and art, we identified nine primary ‘mediums’ through which climate grief is discussed and expressed: i) peer-reviewed research; ii) grey literature; iii) guiding frameworks; iv) education; v) social action gathering; vi) mental health support; vii) religions and spiritual practice; viii) artistic expression; and ix) media. Additionally, within those mediums we identified and categorized 26 forms of expression (secondary), and 40 types of expression (tertiary). Our review collected sources until 2022 and found that people in Canada express climate grief through diverse mediums, spanning Canadian provinces and territories. This typology can strengthen education, learning, and environmental decision-making to find new avenues to support the emotional and physical toll climate change can have on people in Canada.
As the ecological crisis grows more intense, people experience many forms of eco-anxiety and ecological grief. This article explores the broad process of encountering eco-anxiety and ecological grief, and engages in the constructive task of building a new model of that process. Eco-anxiety and grief are here seen as fundamentally healthy reactions to threats and loss, and only the strongest forms of them are seen as problems. The aim is to help researchers, various professionals and the general public by providing a model which is (a) simple enough but (b) more nuanced than stage models which may give a false impression of linearity. The article uses an interdisciplinary method. The proposed new model includes both chronological and thematic aspects. The early phases of Unknowing and Semi-consciousness are followed potentially by some kind of Awakening and various kinds of Shock and possible trauma. A major feature of the model is the following complex phase of Coping and Changing, which is framed as consisting of three major dimensions: Action (pro-environmental behavior of many kinds), Grieving (including other emotional engagement), and Distancing (including both self-care and problematic disavowal). The model predicts that if there is trouble in any of these three dimensions, adjusting will be more difficult. The model thus helps in seeing, e.g., the importance of self-care for coping. The possibility of stronger eco-anxiety and/or eco-depression is always present, including the danger of burnout. The ethical and psychological aim is called Adjustment and Transformation, which includes elements of, e.g., meaning-finding and acceptance. The need for Coping and Changing continues, but there is more awareness and flexibility in a metaphase of Living with the Ecological Crisis, where the titles and subtitles of the three dimensions of coping are switched.
The climate crisis is an unprecedented existential threat that causes disturbing emotions, such as anxiety. Recently, Clayton and Karazsia measured climate anxiety as "a more clinically significant 'anxious' response to climate change" (2020, p. 9). To gain a more nuanced understanding of the phenomenon from an empirical psychological perspective, we translated the core of the Climate Anxiety Scale into German and assessed potential correlates in a large German-speaking quota sample (N = 1011, stratified by age and gender). Overall, people reported low levels of climate anxiety. Climate anxiety correlated positively with general anxiety and depressiveness, avoidance of climate change in everyday life, frustration of basic psychological needs, pro-environmental behavioral intentions, and policy support. It correlated negatively with different forms of climate denial and was unrelated to ideological beliefs. We were not able to replicate the two dimensions found in the original scale. Moreover, we argue that items appear to measure a general climate-related emotional impairment, rather than distinctly and comprehensively capturing climate anxiety. Thus, we encourage researchers to rework the scale and include an emotional factor in future research efforts.
Objectives
To describe experiences of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 following family cluster transmission of the infection and the meaning of these experiences for them.
Design
A descriptive phenomenological design was used to construct themes depicting patients’ experiences of living with COVID-19.
Setting
This study was conducted in a major teaching hospital in Wuhan, China, in March 2020.
Participants
Fourteen patients involved in family cluster transmission of COVID-19 were recruited into the study. The participants consisted of seven males and seven females. Data were collected through semistructured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using Colaizzi’s approach.
Results
Six themes emerged from data analysis during two distinct phases of patients going through COVID-19: the early outbreak phase and the later hospitalisation phase. Early in the outbreak, patients experienced life imbalances between individual well-being and family responsibilities. While facing widespread prejudice and rejection, patients dealt with the heavy toll that the illness had left on their body and mind. After being hospitalised, patients described feelings of living with uncertainty, sadness, fear of death and concerns about family, while simultaneously hoping for a better life after recovery.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that living with COVID-19 is an emotionally and physically challenging experience for patient participants in the study. Psychological evaluations need to be routinely carried out with patients in a public health crisis. Interprofessional and interorganisational collaborative efforts should be made to examine the physical and psychological sequelae of COVID-19, as well as investigate outcomes of existing intervention programmes.
The global epidemic of (mis)information, spreading rapidly via social media platforms and other outlets, can be a risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders among vulnerable individuals. Cyberchondria can be a vulnerability factor for developing anxiety in a pandemic situation, particularly when the Internet is flooded with (mis)information. The aim of our study was to examine how cyberchondria is related to changes in levels of COVID-19 concern and safety behaviours among persons living in Croatia during the period in which the first COVID-19 case was identified and when the country recorded its first fatality. Repeated cross-sectional data collection was conducted during two waves over a period of three weeks (N1 = 888; N2 = 966). The first began on the day of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Croatia (February 24th, 2020) and the second wave began three weeks later, on the day the first COVID-19 fatality was recorded in Croatia (March 19th, 2020). Participants completed an online questionnaire regarding various COVID-19 concerns and safety behaviours aimed at disease prevention (information seeking, avoidance and hygiene) and a measure of cyberchondria (Short Cyberchondria Scale, SCS). We analysed whether changes to the epidemiological situation during the period between the two waves of data collection led to an increase in COVID-19 related behaviour directly and indirectly via an increase in COVID-19 concerns. The results indicated that, between the two waves of research, there was a pronounced increase in concerns regarding COVID-19 (b = 1.11, p < .001) as well as significant behavioural changes (b = 1.18–2.34, p < .001). Also, results demonstrated that cyberchondria plays a moderating role in these changes. In the first wave, persons with severe cyberchondria were already intensely concerned with safety behaviours. High cyberchondria and high levels of concern about the COVID-19 are associated with intense avoidance behaviours, R² = .63, p < .001. A moderated partial mediation model was confirmed, in which the effect of the epidemiological situation was weaker for those with higher results on the SCS (as indicated by index of moderated mediation between -.10 and -.15, p < .05). As such, cyberchondria is a contributing factor to long-term anxiety and its impact during pandemic on the general mental health burden should therefore be further investigated.
Anxiety and distress about the ecological crisis seems to be a rapidly growing phenomenon. This article analyzes the challenges and possibilities posed by such "eco-anxiety" for environmental education. Variations of eco-anxiety are analyzed, and it is argued that educators should be aware of the multiple forms that the phenomenon has. Eco-anxiety is found to be closely connected with many difficult emotions, such as grief, guilt, anger, and despair. However, anxiety also has an adaptive dimension, which can be called "practical anxiety". Anxiety is connected with expectation, motivation, and hopes. Previous research about eco-anxiety and ecological emotions in various disciplines is discussed, and related studies from various fields of education are brought together. Based on this extensive literature review, theoretical analyses are made, using a philosophical method. It is argued that environmental educators need organizational and peer support both in relation to their own difficult emotions and in order to develop emotional skills in their work. Educators should first practice self-reflection about eco-anxiety, after which they have many possibilities to help their audiences to develop emotional resilience. Potential practical activities related to eco-anxiety are discussed, drawing from various fields of education. These include validation of eco-anxiety and ecological emotions, providing safe spaces to discuss them, and, if possible, providing embodied and creative activities to more fully deliberate on them.
A review of the literature on adaptation to bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted to assess the current state of knowledge. Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies published during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 outbreak. 44 articles were included in the review. Narrative synthesis showed that knowledge was largely based on expert assessments of prior bereavement research and professional experience; there is so far absence of empirical evidence linking features of COVID-19 bereavement situations to health outcomes. Severe negative consequences have been consistently predicted by authors. There is still relatively little consideration of positive or compensatory processes or the possibility that these could alleviate the effect of the shocking, traumatic circumstances. With two notable exceptions, there has been lack of attention to the role of theoretical models for guiding research and practice. A theoretical perspective (the Dual Process Model, DPM) was applied to the information derived from the available articles. Two features of the DPM framework illustrated its relevance: 1. It enables systematic assessment of the range of loss- and restoration-related challenges for the bereaved; 2. It speaks for extension of psychotherapeutic intervention to manage secondary, restoration- as well as primary, loss-oriented stressors; studies have demonstrated that this may increase the effectiveness of intervention. Directions for future research and DPM application are suggested.
Emergencies that occur during natural disasters, such as avalanches, earthquakes, and floods, tend to be sudden, unexpected, and ephemeral and recruit defensive responses, similar to the ones recruited when faced with dangerous animals. Defensive behaviors are triggered by activity in survival circuits that detects imminent threats and fear is the conscious emotion of that follows immediately. But this particular threat (COVID-19) is useable and mysterious, triggering anxieties much more than fear. We conducted a literature search on May 1, 2020 in Google Scholar, PsychInfo, and PubMed with search terms related to COVID-19 fears and found 28 relevant articles. We categorized the papers into six groups based on the content and implications: fear of the unknown, social isolation, hypochondriasis, disgust, information-driven fears, and compliance. Considering the nature of fear and anxiety, combined with the characteristics of the present COVID-19 situation, we contemplate that physicians and other health care workers of several specialties, as well as police officers, fire-fighters, and rescue personnel, and first responders might be more able to deal with COVID-19 if they have (a) some tolerance of the unknown, (b) low illness anxiety disorder, (c) tolerance to social isolation; (d) low levels of disgust sensitivity; (e) be granted financial support, (f) have priority if needed medical assistance (g) use caution relatively to the COVID-19 media coverage and (h) be trained to have high levels of efficacy. Possibilities for preventive and therapeutic interventions that can help both health care personnel and the general population are also discussed.
Eco-anxiety and climate anxiety are widely discussed in contemporary media and are subjects of growing research interest. However, there is a lack of research about the definitions and variations of these phenomena. This article analyzes various views of eco-anxiety from a wide range of disciplines. Insights from various anxiety theories are used to discuss empirical studies about forms of eco-anxiety. The article points out that uncertainty, unpredictability, and uncontrollability seem to be important factors in eco-anxiety. Most forms of eco-anxiety appear to be non-clinical, but cases of "pathological" eco-anxiety are also discussed. Other relevant terms and phenomena are scrutinized, such as ecological grief, solastalgia, and ecological trauma. The relationship between studies on eco-anxiety and research about ecological emotions and affect is probed. Eco-anxiety is found to be closely connected to fear and worry, but several disciplines include discussion of its character as existential anxiety. Psychosocial and sociological perspectives point out that social dynamics shape forms of eco-anxiety in profound ways. While paralyzing forms of eco-anxiety emerge as a problem, it is noted that eco-anxiety manifests itself also as "practical anxiety", which leads to gathering of new information and reassessment of behavior options. This variety of forms of eco-anxiety should be taken into account in healthcare and public discussion.
Background
Research shows that the COVID Stress Scales have a robust multifactorial structure, representing five correlated facets of COVID‐19‐related distress: (a) Fear of the dangerousness of COVID‐19, which includes fear of coming into contact with fomites potentially contaminated with SARSCoV2, (b) worry about socioeconomic costs of COVID‐19 (e.g., worry about personal finances and disruption in the supply chain), (c) xenophobic fears that foreigners are spreading SARSCoV2, (d) traumatic stress symptoms associated with direct or vicarious traumatic exposure to COVID‐19 (nightmares, intrusive thoughts, or images related to COVID‐19), and (e) COVID‐19‐related compulsive checking and reassurance seeking. These factors cohere to form a COVID stress syndrome, which we sought to further delineate in the present study.
Methods
A population‐representative sample of 6,854 American and Canadian adults completed a self‐report survey comprising questions about current mental health and COVID‐19‐related experiences, distress, and coping.
Results
Network analysis revealed that worry about the dangerousness of COVID‐19 is the central feature of the syndrome. Latent class analysis indicated that the syndrome is quasi‐dimensional, comprising five classes differing in syndrome severity. Sixteen percent of participants were in the most severe class and possibly needing mental health services. Syndrome severity was correlated with preexisting psychopathology and with excessive COVID‐19‐related avoidance, panic buying, and coping difficulties during self‐isolation.
Conclusion
The findings provide new information about the structure and correlates of COVID stress syndrome. Further research is needed to determine whether the syndrome will abate once the pandemic has passed or whether, for some individuals, it becomes a chronic condition.
Background:
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated lockdown could be considered a 'perfect storm' for increases in emotional distress. Such increases can only be identified by studies that use data collected before and during the pandemic. Longitudinal data are also needed to examine (1) the roles of previous distress and stressors in emotional distress during the pandemic and (2) how COVID-19-related stressors and coping strategies are associated with emotional distress when pre-pandemic distress is accounted for.
Methods:
Data came from a cohort study (N = 768). Emotional distress (perceived stress, internalizing symptoms, and anger), COVID-19-related stressors, and coping strategies were measured during the pandemic/lockdown when participants were aged 22. Previous distress and stressors were measured before COVID-19 (at age 20).
Results:
On average, participants showed increased levels of perceived stress and anger (but not internalizing symptoms) during the pandemic compared to before. Pre-COVID-19 emotional distress was the strongest predictor of during-pandemic emotional distress, followed by during-pandemic economic and psychosocial stressors (e.g. lifestyle and economic disruptions) and hopelessness, and pre-pandemic social stressors (e.g. bullying victimization and stressful life events). Most health risks to self or loved ones due to COVID-19 were not uniquely associated with emotional distress in final models. Coping strategies associated with reduced distress included keeping a daily routine, physical activity, and positive reappraisal/reframing.
Conclusions:
In our community sample, pre-pandemic distress, secondary consequences of the pandemic (e.g. lifestyle and economic disruptions), and pre-pandemic social stressors were more consistently associated with young adults' emotional distress than COVID-19-related health risk exposures.
During the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, people around the world have faced a myriad of heart-rending and ethically difficult scenarios (e.g., not being able to tend to a sick or dying loved one) that may lead to subsequent guilt, shame, or moral injury. Trauma-informed guilt reduction therapy is a brief intervention that helps clients accurately appraise their role in a stressful event (such as those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic) and find positive ways to express important values going forward. Future studies of trauma-informed guilt reduction therapy with those affected by COVID-19 will be helpful for clarifying its effectiveness with this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Fear, anger and hopelessness were the most frequent traumatic emotional responses in the general public during the first stage of outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in the Czech Republic (N = 1,000). The four most frequent categories of fear were determined: (a) fear of the negative impact on household finances, (b) fear of the negative impact on the household finances of significant others, (c) fear of the unavailability of health care, and (d) fear of an insufficient food supply. The pessimistic communications used by the Czech mass media contributed to intensifying traumatic feelings, fears and psychological distress in the general public during the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Taking stock of the global mental health challenges created by the global COVID-19 pandemic, Schimmenti, Billieux, and Starcevic (2020) recently provided, in this journal, a radically new theoretical framework to conceptualize the experience of fear during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this commentary, I reflect on the implications of Schimmenti and colleagues’ sole focus on fear, without taking into account the notion of anxiety. I argue that the conceptual and functional distinction between fear and anxiety may further strengthen the theoretical foundations of Schimmenti and colleagues’ model. Finally, I discuss how such a distinction can ultimately help at better identifying clinical targets not only for psychological interventions but also for policy recommendations.
Background
The emergence of the COVID-19 and its consequences has led to fears, worries, and anxiety among individuals worldwide. The present study developed the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) to complement the clinical efforts in preventing the spread and treating of COVID-19 cases.Methods
The sample comprised 717 Iranian participants. The items of the FCV-19S were constructed based on extensive review of existing scales on fears, expert evaluations, and participant interviews. Several psychometric tests were conducted to ascertain its reliability and validity properties.ResultsAfter panel review and corrected item-total correlation testing, seven items with acceptable corrected item-total correlation (0.47 to 0.56) were retained and further confirmed by significant and strong factor loadings (0.66 to 0.74). Also, other properties evaluated using both classical test theory and Rasch model were satisfactory on the seven-item scale. More specifically, reliability values such as internal consistency (α = .82) and test–retest reliability (ICC = .72) were acceptable. Concurrent validity was supported by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (with depression, r = 0.425 and anxiety, r = 0.511) and the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Scale (with perceived infectability, r = 0.483 and germ aversion, r = 0.459).Conclusion
The Fear of COVID-19 Scale, a seven-item scale, has robust psychometric properties. It is reliable and valid in assessing fear of COVID-19 among the general population and will also be useful in allaying COVID-19 fears among individuals.
This paper explores the emotional experiences of some undergraduate sustainability students in a semester long course on climate change. Specifically, it attends to experiences of anxiety, frustration, overwhelm, guilt, grief and hope. I suggest these experiences are characteristic of a process I term learning to live-with climate change. Learning to live-with climate change involves attuning to the relational composition of the world and thus the self; mourning desirable relationships that are lost as the planet warms; and responding to these conditions in ways that may foster more liveable worlds. Collectively, these processes enrol people in practices of bearing worlds: enduring the pain of the end of the world they have known, and labouring to generate promising alternatives. As such, these processes reconfigure the self and its relations, and attunement to how climate change composes, recomposes and decomposes particular subjectivities is important. The paper argues that affective adaptation is therefore a crucial element of climate change education.
Over the last two decades, resilience has steadily gained traction in discussions on the theory and practice of adaptation to climate change. The concept is widely considered useful for explaining how coupled social-ecological systems (SESs) resist climate-related stressors or undergo change. At the same time, however, there has been an upswell of critique on resilience and climate-resilient development, stemming most prominently from the quarters of political ecology and human geography. This article seeks to contribute to this literature by using the analytical lens of post-politics to critically evaluate resilience and climate-resilient development in a local adaptation context. Four major critiques are lodged against resilience: (1) its inability to sufficiently recognize the large-scale political, economic, and social forces affecting and effecting change, (2) its oversight of the analyzed systems’ internal dynamics, (3) the depoliticized, techno-managerial nature of resilience-centered solutions, and (4) the theoretical vagueness of resilience as applied by development actors. The paper presents a grounded critique of the term based on empirical evidence collected through a quasi-ethnography of a climate change adaptation project implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the national government in São Tomé and Príncipe. It is argued that resilience, despite its theoretical attractiveness and growing popularity among donors, continues to dehumanize development and renders adaptation post-political. The article also discusses alternative, more human-centered approaches rooted in vulnerability and climate justice, which offer a more nuanced lens through which to analyze climate impacts and the associated challenges that they pose at the local level.
Anxiety relating to a multitude of ecological crises, or eco-anxiety, is a subject of growing research significance. We used a multi-study mixed-methods design to explore eco-anxiety in Australia and New Zealand, validating a new eco-anxiety scale. In Study One, we developed and tested a 7-item eco-anxiety scale (n = 334), finding that this captured some, but not all, experiences of eco-anxiety. We found that people were anxious about a range of environmental conditions and their personal negative impact on the planet. Notably, people’s anxiety about different environmental conditions (e.g., climate change, environmental degradation, pollution) were interconnected, lending support for the existence of eco-anxiety (a broader construct that encompasses climate change anxiety). These results informed further scale development in Study Two. Exploratory (n = 365) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (n = 370) supported a final 13-item scale that captured four dimensions of eco-anxiety: affective symptoms, rumination, behavioural symptoms, and anxiety about one’s negative impact on the planet, which were each distinct from stress, anxiety and depression. A further longitudinal sample (n = 189) established the stability of these factors across time. Findings support eco-anxiety as a quantifiable psychological experience, reliably measured using our 13-item eco-anxiety scale, and differentiated from mental health outcomes.
What role, if any, should appeals to fear play in climate change communication? Moral and practical worries about fear appeals in the climate change debate have caused some to turn toward hope appeals. This chapter argues that fear can be a rational and motivationally powerful response to climate change. While there are good reasons to worry about the use of fear in politics, climate change fear appeals can be protected against the standard criticisms of political fear. Hope appeals, by contrast, seem vulnerable to serious motivational drawbacks in the case of climate change. We should not therefore abandon fear appeals in favor of hope appeals. Instead, we should take our bearings from Aristotle in an effort to cultivate fear more responsibly. Aristotle offers an appealing model of “civic fear” that preserves the best aspects of hope, elicits rather than extinguishes our sense of agency, and invites rather than forecloses deliberation.
Emotions about climate change are the subject of a growing area of interdisciplinary scholarship. But so far scholars have not studied the emotions expressed by self-declared climate change skeptics; nor have social scientists turned to affect studies to develop nuanced understandings of the constellation of emotions related to fear. Our team conducted 33 interviews and 1000 surveys with self-identified skeptics living in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The data demonstrates the variability in perspectives, ideologies, and behaviors among skeptics themselves in new and unique ways, including tracking skeptics’ emotions about climate change. This article focuses on worry and dread. We find that those who believe climate change is a hoax, and skeptics who are politically conservative, tend to express less of these two emotions, as do men who identify as skeptics. Religiosity, as measured by frequency of religious attendance, does not significantly correlate with worry and dread; however, specific religious beliefs related to climate change (e.g. “Climate change is punishment for our sins”) do seem to increase those two feelings. Negative firsthand environmental experiences are also associated with higher degrees of worry and dread. Perhaps most significantly, our data suggests that worry and dread correlate strongly with environmental concern and policy support.
Our interdisciplinary approach has several methodological advantages. First, affect studies encourages more nuance in emotion language, including more detailed definitions of emotions like worry and dread, which simmer over time, as opposed to discrete emotions like fear, which are shorter-lived. Second, sociological approaches remind us that emotions function within particular political, historical, and cultural contexts, which are fundamentally shaped by power structures. Finally, humanities scholars can provide useful input both in research design and the interpretation of results by helping craft survey questions and data codes, and by providing close attention to the language of the survey and interview responses. Combined with quantitative data, this multi-pronged methodology brings together forms of knowledge from the humanities and social sciences. Our approach serves as a model for new work in the growing field of empirical ecocriticism and expands the boundaries of the environmental humanities.
Eco-anxiety may not be new, but could now be seen as an emergent phenomenon attracting increasing attention as public awareness about the climate and bio-diversity crisis grows. There may also be some generational differences in how we respond emotionally, with children often talking about feelings framed by their experience of adult misunderstanding or inaction. What often scares children the most is how they see the ‘adult world’ failing to take sufficient urgent action on these threats, whilst at the same time dismissing, criminalising, pathologising and patronising their feelings and voices. Children and young people are increasingly taking centre stage in protests about the need to take urgent action, whilst simultaneously often being the focus of society’s anxieties about the psychological impact of the crises; ‘we mustn’t frighten the children’. This paper focuses on children and young people’s perspectives; introducing eco-anxiety, drawing on clinical practice examples, research findings and finally offering conceptual frames to help us broaden and deepen our understanding of this evolving syndrome.
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on public health, economic activity, and mental health as it spread across the globe. Research from past pandemics links excessive anxiety about illness-related threats with symptoms of health anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In the present study, we investigated whether intolerance of uncertainty (IU), a psychological vulnerability factor involved in both OCD and health anxiety, accounts for a portion of the relationship between these symptoms and fear of COVID-19 during the early stages of the outbreak in the Unites States. We administered measures of concern about the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Threat Scale; CTS), health anxiety, and OCD symptoms to a large sample of community adults in the United States (n = 738) recruited through Amazon MTurk. Results revealed that concern about COVID-19 was moderately and positively correlated with both OCD and health anxiety symptoms, as well as IU. Moreover, regression analyses found that IU partially accounted for the connections between concern about the spread of COVID-19 and OCD and health anxiety symptoms. These results highlight IU as a potential mechanism connecting OCD and health anxiety to anxiety about pandemic threats. Clinical implications, limitations, and future directions for research are discussed.
Three studies investigated habitual worry about global warming as an example of 'eco-anxiety'. The key question was whether such worrying is constructive (a motivated pro-environmental response) or unconstructive (a symptom of pathological worry). Pathological worry and worry about global warming were assessed together with two other worry sources, that is, personal issues and the world economy (Study 1) and personal issues and the corona virus (Study 2). In both studies a statistically significant correlation was found between pathological worry and global warming worry. However, this relationship was nonsignificant when controlled for the other two worry sources. Comparisons between Studies 1 and 2 conducted one month before and during the COVID-19 crisis, respectively, as well as between order conditions within Study 2 suggested that global warming worry was unaffected by the COVID-19 context. Study 3 demonstrated that global warming worry was associated with the perception of a proximal as well as a distal threat, and correlated positively with determinants of pro-environmental behaviour, that is, a pro-ecological worldview, pro-environmental values, past pro-environmental behaviour and a 'green' identity. Global warming worry also correlated positively with emotion clusters signifying determination, anxiety, and anger, respectively. The three studies together suggest that while habitual global warming worry may be unconstructive and part of intrapersonal dysfunction for some individuals, for many others it is a constructive adaptive pro-environmental response.
Reports to date have shown that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic may have a negative impact on individuals' mental health. The purpose of this study was to assess the relation between ego-resiliency, social support, coronavirus anxiety and trauma effects. The study employed the Polish adaptation of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS). It involved 515 individuals aged 18-78. The Polish version of CAS revealed satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.86). Structural equation modeling indicated that ego-resiliency (the Ego-Resiliency Scale) and social support (the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support) were correlated and negatively predicted the severity of the novel coronavirus anxiety (CAS). Moreover, the level of anxiety showed positive correlation with negative trauma effects (the short form of the Changes in Outlook Questionnaire). The scores indicate the need for practitioners to focus on interventions which elevate ego-resiliency and perceived social support to improve mental health during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
The Nature of Grief is a provocative new study on the evolution of grief. Most literature on the topic regards grief either as a psychiatric disorder or illness to be cured. In contrast to this, John Archer shows that grief is a natural reaction to losses of many sorts, even to the death of a pet, and he proves this by bringing together material from evolutionary psychology, ethology and experimental psychology. This innovative new work will be required reading for developmental and clinical psychologists and all those in the caring professions.
With the rapid spread of global pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), people around the world express panic in various behaviors. This affects the economy of the county, social values, and psychological stress of the people involved regardless of the directness of contact with the infected. This study aims to analyze the panic responses of the people as well as the perception on the global issue through an online survey. The researchers used Health Anxiety Inventory and open ended questions regarding the feelings, thoughts and actions of people during the enhanced community quarantine. Quantitative and qualitative data were both analyzed and interpreted interactively. Results also show that there is a significant difference (p=0.028) in the Avoidance behavior between locations. Furthermore, a significant difference (p=0.000) also shows on the Symptoms of Hypochondriasis between exposure to COVID-19. COVID-19 Panic Framework were also conceptualized with the following themes arranged from negative to positive behaviors: Indifference, Annihilation, Nihilism, Paranoia, Sadness, Fear, Transmission of Virus, Shock, Government Blaming, Anxiety, Relating to Past Pandemics, Worry on Self/Family/Others, Information Dissemination, Composure, Compliance, Protection, Cautiousness, Optimism, and Health Consciousness. In conclusion, levels of health anxiety were consistent regardless of location and exposure to COVID-19 patients. Lastly, spectrum of panic consequences due to COVID-19 pandemic were constructed.
The paper engages with the concepts of scapegoat ecology and heroisation to explore social media responses to Greta Thunberg’s activism. We sought to understand the broad sentiment towards her anti-flying (flygskam/flight shame) campaign, as symbolised by her 2019 sail to the United States to attend the United Nations Climate Action Summit. Specifically, social media user posts in response to three major news media organisations’ (BBC, CNN, and Sky News) Facebook coverage of her trip were analysed. The findings reveal dichotomous responses – the majority are critical and dismissive, which we interpret through the lens of ‘scapegoating’; however, a substantial number of posts (about 30%) describe the youth activist as inspirational. We conclude that the majority of people are not yet ready to give up travel convenience for climate change or other environmental reasons, and discuss potential implications for the tourism industry.
The adverse psychological effects of COVID-19 have increased globally. Moreover, the psychological toll may be worsening for this health crisis due to the growing numbers of mass deaths and unemployment levels. Coronaphobia, a relatively new pandemic-related construct, has been shown to be strongly related to functional impairment and psychological distress. However, the extent to which coronaphobia is uniquely accountable for the psychological distress experienced during the COVID-19 crisis has not been systematically investigated. The current study examined this question of incremental validity using online data from 453 adult MTurk workers in the U.S. The results of a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that coronaphobia explained additional variance in depression, generalized anxiety, and death anxiety, above sociodemographics, COVID-19 factors, and the vulnerability factors of neuroticism, health anxiety, and reassurance-seeking behaviors. These findings suggest that health professionals should be aware of coronaphobia as this expression of pandemic-related stress has reliably demonstrated incremental validity in accounting for major indicators of psychological distress.
Climate change will affect psychological wellbeing. Substantial research has documented harmful impacts on physical health, mental health, and social relations from exposure to extreme weather events that are associated with climate change. Recently, attention has turned to the possible effects of climate change on mental health through emotional responses such as increased anxiety. This paper discusses the nature of climate anxiety and some evidence for its existence, and speculates about ways to address it. Although climate anxiety appears to be a real phenomenon that deserves clinical attention, it is important to distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive levels of anxiety. A focus on individual mental health should not distract attention from the societal response that is necessary to address climate change.
COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a disaster for the human beings. All the Governments across the globe have been preparing to deal with this medical emergency, which is known to be associated with mortality in about 5% of the sufferers. Gradually, it is seen that, many patients with COVID-19 infection have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic. Due to the risk of infecting others, persons with COVID-19 infection are kept in isolation wards. Because of the isolation, the fear of death, and associated stigma, many patients with COVID-19 infection go through mental distress. In this report, we discuss the experience of 3 persons diagnosed with COVId-19 infection and admitted to the COVID ward.
According to cognitive-behavioral models, traits, triggering events, cognitions, and adverse behaviors play a pivotal role in the development and maintenance of health anxiety. During virus outbreaks, anxiety is widespread. However, the role of trait health anxiety, cyberchondria, and coping in the context of virus anxiety during the current COVID-19 pandemic has not yet been studied. An online survey was conducted in the German general population (N = 1,615, 79.8% female, Mage = 33.36 years, SD = 13.18) in mid-March 2020, which included questionnaires on anxiety associated with SARS-CoV-2, trait health anxiety, cyberchondriaPandemic (i.e. excessive online information search), and emotion regulation. The participants reported a significantly increasing virus anxiety in recent months (previous months recorded retrospectively), especially among individuals with heightened trait health anxiety. CyberchondriaPandemic showed positive correlations with current virus anxiety (r = .09 – .48), and this relationship was additionally moderated by trait health anxiety. A negative correlation was found between the perception of being informed about the pandemic and the current virus anxiety (r=-.18), with adaptive emotion regulation being a significant moderator for this relationship. The findings suggest that trait health anxiety and cyberchondria serve as risk factors, whereas information about the pandemic and adaptive emotion regulation might represent buffering factors for anxiety during a virus pandemic.
There is increasing attention to the negative emotional responses associated with awareness of climate change. We present three studies developing a scale of climate change anxiety. In Study 1, the scale was developed and validated in an MTurk sample of 197. Exploratory factor analysis of our item pool revealed a four-factor structure, with cognitive-emotional impairment, functional impairment, behavioral engagement, and experience emerging as unique factors. Cognitive-emotional impairment and functional impairment were considered to constitute subscales for climate change anxiety; along with behavioral engagement, they were all related to experience as well as to negative emotions. Neither climate change anxiety nor general depression and anxiety were related to behavioral engagement. Study 2 replicated the factor structure as well as the pattern of correlations in a second MTurk sample of 199. Study 3 examined the relationship between climate change anxiety and adaptation responses in a sample of 217, and tested whether climate change anxiety scores would be affected by the framing of a climate change message. Overall, results suggest that climate change anxiety is not uncommon, especially among younger adults; that worry can be differentiated from a more serious impact on one's life; and that climate change anxiety is correlated with emotional but not behavioral responses to climate change.
Environmental rhetorics have expanded awareness of mass extinction, climate change, and pervasive pollution, yet failed to generate collective action that adequately addresses such pressing matters. This book contends that the anemic response to ecological upheaval is due, in part, to an inability to navigate novel forms of environmental guilt.
Combining affect theory with rhetorical analysis to examine a range of texts and media, Ecologies of Guilt in Environmental Rhetorics positions guilt as a keystone emotion for contemporary environmental communication, and explores how it is provoked, perpetuated, and framed through everyday discourse. In revealing the need for emotional literacies that productively engage our complicity in global ecological harm, the book looks to a future where guilt—and its symbiotic relationships with anger, shame, and grief—is shaped in tune with the ecologies that sustain us.
A comprehensive handbook of "environmental emotions" (or, Earth Emotions). 79 emotion words + various observations. At the moment, available only in Finnish.
This article explores children’s resistance in relation to the climate emergency through a thematic analysis of climate activist Greta Thunberg’s speeches. Two themes, new to the literature, are identified: (1) need for political and social change focusing on the climate emergency, resistance towards laissez-faire behaviour and exhortations, and (2) resistance targets including the political leaders, capitalist ideologies and older generations. This illustrates the power of children in expressing abstract progressive resistance.
A situated and socially engaged science of loss arising from climate change takes people’s lived experiences with risk and harm as its fundamental starting point. It foregrounds what losses occur, where and how, which of these losses matter most to people and why, and whether or not such losses are considered acceptable and potentially reversible. However, obtaining such insight is difficult if the many things people value, across space and time, are intangible, i.e. they cannot and perhaps should not be quantified, and hence are often overlooked and omitted. This is the case, for instance, for the symbolic and affective dimensions of culture and place, such as sense of belonging, personal and collective notions of identity, and ways of knowing and making sense of the world, all of which are already undermined by climate change. Here, we perform the first systematic comparative analysis of people-centered and place-specific experiences with climate-related harm to people’s values that are largely intangible and non-commensurable. We draw upon >100 published case studies from around the world to make visible and concrete what matters most to people and what is at stake in the context of climate-related hazards and impacts. We show that the same threats can produce vastly different outcomes, ranging from reversible damages to irreversible losses and anticipated future risks, across numerous value dimensions, for indigenous and non-indigenous families, communities, and countries at all levels of development. Through this analysis, we also empirically validate dimensions of harm that have been produced and reproduced in the literature, albeit often devoid of distinct substance, lived experiences, and intrinsic significance. We end by discussing ethical implications of the ‘one thousand ways’ to encounter harm and offer recommendations to overcome methodological challenges in advancing a science of loss grounded in place.
Using the author's extensive experience of advising public, private and non-profit sectors on personal, organization, and community behavioral and systems change knowledge and tools, this book applies a new lens to the question of how to respond to climate change. It offers a scientifically rigorous understanding of the negative mental health and psychosocial impacts of climate change and argues that overlooking these issues will have very damaging consequences. The practical assessment of various methods to build human resilience offered by Transformational Resilience then makes a powerful case for the need to quickly expand beyond emission reductions and hardening physical infrastructure to enhance the capacity of individuals and groups to cope with the inevitable changes affecting all levels of society.Applying a trauma-informed mental health and psychosocial perspective, Transformational Resilience offers a groundbreaking approach to responding to climate disruption. The book describes how climate disruption traumatizes societies and how effective responses can catalyze positive learning, growth, and change.
Hope takes on particular significance at this historical moment, which is defined by the prospect of a climate-altered future. Young people (aged 18–29) from climate action groups in New Zealand were interviewed about how they perceived the future. Deploying a unique combination of conceptual tools and in-depth analysis of a small set of interviews, I explore young New Zealanders’ complex relationships with despair and hope. Paulo Freire claimed his despair as a young man ‘educated’ what emerged as hope. I extend Freire’s concept in two ways by considering: (a) how hope might also ‘educate’ despair and (b) how hope and despair might operate at a collective level, drawing on Rosemary Randall’s psychotherapeutic analysis of societal responses to climate change. Participants identified collective processes as generating hope. Collectivizing hope and despair is important so that young people do not feel climate change is only their burden to solve.
The failure of societies to respond in a concerted, meaningful way to climate change is a core concern of the social science climate literature. Existing explanations of social inertia display little coherence. Here, a theoretical approach is suggested that integrates disparate perspectives on social inertia regarding climate change. Climate change constitutes a potential cultural trauma. The threat of cultural trauma is met with resistance and attempts to restore and maintain the status quo. Thus, efforts to avoid large-scale social changes associated with climate change constitute an effort to avoid cultural trauma, and result in social inertia regarding climate change at individual, institutional, and societal levels. Existing approaches to social inertia are reviewed. An intellectual framework utilizing the work of Pierre Bourdieu is proposed to integrate these different levels of social interaction. Social processes that maintain social order and thus avoid cultural trauma create social inertia regarding climate change. © 2019
This article addresses the problem of “eco‐anxiety” by integrating results from numerous fields of inquiry. Although climate change may cause direct psychological and existential impacts, vast numbers of people already experience indirect impacts in the form of depression, socio‐ethical paralysis, and loss of well‐being. This is not always evident, because people have developed psychological and social defenses in response, including “socially constructed silence.” I argue that this situation causes the need to frame climate change narratives as emphasizing hope in the midst of tragedy. Framing the situation simply as a threat or a possibility does not work. Religious communities and the use of methods which include spirituality have an important role in enabling people to process their deep emotions and existential questions. I draw also from my experiences from Finland in enabling cooperation between natural scientists and theologians in order to address climate issues.