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Ecoanxiety
Despite several warnings from the scientific community in the past decades, governments' responses remain insufficient for tackling the climate urgency. This lack of action leads to negative emotions, especially among young people. A survey by Léger reveals that 73% of young people claim that they suffer from ecoanxiety, while 80% of respondents doubt about a future improvement (ICI Radio-Canada).
Even if climate change does not directly affect everyone in the same way, the realization alone of these issues can affect our psychological well-being. Emotions felt, grouped under the term « ecoanxiety », may take many forms such as fear, anger, anxiety, guilt, etc. It is more appropriate to speak about « ecoemotions ». Contrary to what some medias may report, ecoanxiety is not a medical condition. In the context of the current climate crisis, these ecoemotions are legitimate behavioural responses.
Though anyone is at risk of suffering from ecoanxiety, the youth is the most affected age group. Environmental issues hold a predominant place in the media, and unlike previous generations, today's youth receives a continuous flow of information on the subject. These people are therefore better aware of the situation and feel increased negative emotions since they do not necessarily have the power or influence required to make significant changes. Uncomfortable emotions may lead to paralysis, preventing any projection into the future, or denial, which means that an individual may try to escape these difficult emotions and ignore the problem.
Understanding this phenomenon and its consequences on the planet and our psychological well-being can help us deal betttr with our ecoanxiety. Accepting these emotions as legitimate responses and channeling this emotional energie towards positive actions can contribute to mitigate the impact of ecoanxiety in our daily lives.
Vers un avenir serein (Towards a serene future)
Thanks to the funding provided by the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de Laval, CRE de Laval is offering free and customized workshops dedicated to ecoanxiety to young people aged 12-25. These sessions can be held in various environments across Laval, be it in formal settings such as schools, or in more informal places such as community settings.
Here is an overview of the covered themes:
- What is ecoanxiety and how can we deal with our emotiond in order to tackle the climate crisis in an efficient way?
- Social networks and the media; their impact on our emotions and our vision of climate change.
- Slow down in a world based on performance so we can take action better.
If you are interested in these workshops, please reach out to Maxime Pronovost, Environmental education project manager: maxime.pronovost@credelaval.qc.ca
Available resources
Lobe Vert (in French)
Éco-motion (in French)
Videos, webinars and podcasts (in French)
Lab22 – Écoanxiété et écoespoir
Éco-motion - Cultiver le courage de continuer d'avancer quand on est écoanxieux.se
RIISQ - Le bien-être psychologique à l’ère de la catastrophe socioécologique: le cas de l'écoanxiété
Websites
BESIDE – Defining our eco-emotions
Positive environmental news (in French)
Movies and documentary films
Demain - Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent (in French)
Après demain - Laure Noualhat and Cyril Dion (in French)
En quête de sens - Marc de La Ménardière and Nathanaël Coste (in French)
La terre vue du cœur - Iolande Cadrin-Rossignol, Hubert Reeves and Frédéric Lenoir (in French)
La Tortue rouge - Michael Dudok de Wit (in French)
Qu’est-ce qu’on attend ? - Marie-Monique Robin (in French)
Capitaine Fantastique - Matt Ross (in French)
Solidream - Morgan Monchaud, Brian Mathé and Siphay Vera (in French)
Life on our Planet - Jonathan Hughes and David Attenborough
My Octopus teacher - James Reed and Pippa Ehrlich
La panthère des neiges - Vincent Munier, Marie Amiguet and Sylvain Tesson
