Eco-anxiety: how the climate emergency negatively affects our mental health by causing fear.
There is a lot of talk about the psychological consequences of the coronavirus emergency but what about the climate one? Well, according to Dr. Margaret Klein Salamon, author of the book "Facing the Climate Emergency: How to Transform Yourself With Climate Truth", many people are deeply scared from what is happening on an environmental level but fail to deal with the negative emotions that derive from it fear to real panic attacks.
According to the doctor, who is a clinical psychologist and climate activist, founder of The Climate Mobilization, the climate emergency is not only environmental, but also personal, emotional, even spiritual. In her clinical practice she has in fact met many people who felt overwhelmed by it and offered them advice to come to terms with reality.
These are people who have understood how alarming the issue is and how much it concerns us closely, and who for this reason have found themselves struggling with the emotional implications deriving from the problem, often finding themselves alone in this discomfort, to the point of wondering if there was something wrong with yourself.
It is not the first time that someone has noticed the psychological consequences of climate change, for example a study on the psychological effects of climate change on children showed that it increases the risk of developing PTSD, depression, phobias, anxiety, sleep and sleep disorders. 'attachment. And in an article published in 2019, psychotherapist Linda Buzzell and psychology professor Craig Chalquist talked about eco-anxiety, defined by the American Psychological Association (APA) as the chronic fear of environmental doom. The fear of the future that awaits us!
She says that in addressing this climate emergency it is important to first face the truth, rather than pretend there is nothing to worry about. So welcome the fear and pain that can come from this awareness, without wanting to deny or judge them. Thirdly, imagine your own lives differently by rethinking them in the light of the emergency, in order to encourage yourself to take on the responsibility of protecting humanity and the Planet.
FONTI: Psychology Today
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