Wake Up Well: Facing climate anxiety

Paris Alston: This is GBH's Morning Edition. Earth Day is right around the corner. It's a time when we celebrate our connection to the earth and work to protect it by doing things like cleaning up trash or planting trees. All of that is especially pertinent now given all the signs of our changing climate, something Americans are feeling increasingly anxious about. As part of our ongoing series Wake Up Well, we're taking time on the first Wednesday of every month to speak with people in the mental health space about topics like this one. And last month, when we mentioned we'd be discussing climate anxiety for our next installment, we heard from one of our listeners. His name is James McKowen, and he is a clinical psychologist at Harvard Medical School and Mass General whose work centers climate change and youth mental health. Given his expertise, we invited Dr. McKowen into the studio to discuss this, and he joins me now. Hello. Good morning.

James McKowen: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

Alston: Thank you so much for being here. And just a note to everyone listening that this conversation is not a substitute for treatment, but meant to be a jumping off point. So, Dr. McKowen, a 2022 survey by the medical journal The Lancet Planetary Health found that 59% of respondents worldwide aged 16 to 25 said they were very or extremely worried about climate change. How do you see this show up in the patients that you treat?

McKowen: It's a really concerning statistic to see, especially since this was a global survey. And young people are bringing this to our clinical space, sharing their anxieties, sharing their worries about the future and it getting in their way of sleep sometimes, and concentration.

Alston: Does this show up for older adults too?

McKowen: It does. Yeah. There was a large study out of the Yale Center for Climate Communication looking at anxiety and eco anxiety across the age population, and over 70% of Americans are concerned about climate change, regardless of age.

Alston: What are the symptoms?

McKowen: You'll see just a lot of existential anxiety, worry, difficulty focusing at times, being preoccupied with news, doomscrolling, really getting stuck in disasters and wildfires. And then we've experienced some of that locally as well. I think that impacts our sense of worry about the future, particularly if we have children. In fact, that survey showed that about one in 4 or 5, I forget exactly. Young people are choosing not to have children because of the climate crisis specifically.

Alston: So what can you do about it if you're experiencing these feelings and these symptoms?

McKowen: Yeah. What we want to be clear on is the climate anxiety or eco anxiety or distress is not a mental illness. It's actually what we think about as a normal reaction to the unfolding crisis, right? And at the same time, for some people, it can morph into real preoccupation, getting in their way of focusing and can be much harder to kind of go on in their day to day. Learning about it is number one, and finding other people that you can talk to, building a community, is really helpful. And if you are struggling a lot, looking out and seeking a climate-aware therapist that can help you work through these different feelings, getting active — we know being involved in nature restoration, plantings, activism, emailing your senator, you're protesting at climate-aware events — that can really help with a lot of this stuff as well.

Alston: And I imagine going out into nature and just being one with it could help, too. Is that right?

McKowen: Yeah, absolutely. And we know that trees are beneficial for our mental health through things that they emit, the air we breathe. It's cooler there. It's green. It restores our attention fatigue that we struggle with every day, particularly given Americans are indoors 90% of the time, apparently. And so we should get out more.

Alston: Before we let you go, Dr. McKowen, we have been asking all of our guests for this series to share an affirmation with us that we can take into our day and into our futures as we're trying to get to a better place with them. What's yours?

McKowen: I would say 'Nature brings hope.' I believe it. I go to a forest. I love it there. It brings me hope to see the spring flowers coming, or planting a native plant makes me feel really good.

Alston: Well, that is Doctor Jame McKowen, who is a clinical psychologist at Harvard Medical School and Mass General specializing in climate change and youth mental health. Doctor McKowen, thank you so much.

McKowen: Thank you so much for having me.

Alston: And you can find a list of mental health resources at GBHnews.org/wakeupwell. For our next installment, we'll be talking about the ups and downs of motherhood in light of Mother's Day. And if you'd like to chime in on that topic, you can text us at (617) 300-2008 or email thewakeup@gbh.org. You're listening to GBH News.