S.clouded by the heat, paralyzed by feelings of guilt (turn on the air conditioner or not?): we are all prey to eco-anxietythat is, according to the definition of the Australian climatologist Glenn Albrecht“the general feeling that the ecological foundations of existence are about to collapse“.
According to a study bySustainability Observatory created by Censis with Assogestionithe 79 percent of Italians are afraid of climate change. In a global research on 10 thousand young people between 16 and 25 years published in Lancet in 2021, more than 50 percent feel sad, angry.
Echo anxiety affects young people
“Young people and women are the most affected because they are sensitive to environmental issues” says Marco Innocenti, psychiatrist, author of Eco-anxiety. Climate change between activism and fear (Erickson). With what consequences? “The knot is self-efficacy” argues. “If I feel self-effective, that is if I feel I can do something, the outcome is positive.
How to fight eco-anxiety
Combating Eco Anxiety with Nature (Getty Images)
Good habits arise from awareness: ride a bike, recycle. It feels even better if you network by involving others; pro-environmental behaviors, such as not polluting, reduce eco-anxiety by engaging a virtuous circuit. If, on the other hand, I don’t think I can do anything useful, anxiety becomes ecoparalysis ».
To push towards positive behaviors, it is important to be in contact with nature: «If I run in the woods and not in the gym, I let myself be enveloped by beauty, and I understand the value of protecting the environment. Contact with trees reduces stress“.
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