Eco anxiety and grief: It’s real, and there are ways to cope

By Neo Chai Chin
20 November 2019

(Eco-Business) – When about 50 tertiary students and members of the public gathered last month for a workshop in Singapore on next month’s United Nations climate change conference, they talked first about expectations and the ground to be covered at the conference.

Then, they discussed feelings of anxiety and fear caused by climate change.

Awareness of ecological anxiety and grief is slowly growing as humans come to terms with climate change and its effects, including the potential widespread loss of plant and animal species and melting of ice caps.

While eco anxiety and grief are not specific or diagnosable disorders or conditions, researchers say eco anxiety is the worry, anxiety and fear over the state of the environment relating to climate change, while eco grief is the deep sense of loss, sadness and lament felt for the same reasons.

Today, we are seeing an increasing number of memorials dedicated to losses in the natural world, such as the funeral service held earlier this year for the Okjökull glacier in western Iceland.

Dr. Neville Ellis, research fellow at the University of Western Australia’s School of Agriculture and Environment

There is no clear distinction between eco anxiety and grief, Dr Neville Ellis, a research fellow at the University of Western Australia’s School of Agriculture and Environment, told Eco-Business.

“In the context of climate change, loss, uncertainty and feelings of powerlessness can co-mingle, creating a complicated emotional experience,” he said.

At the eco anxiety discussion in Singapore, organised by the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law and National University of Singapore’s Energy Studies Institute, four panelists including Nominated Member of Parliament Anthea Ong and Singapore Youth for Climate Action co-founder Nor Lastrina Hamid shared their experiences and advice on addressing eco-anxiety.

Ong is convinced that eco anxiety is real and on the rise, especially among children and young people, “because of the dystopia of the future due to climate change and therefore the despair and hopelessness associated with these environmental concerns”. […]

Most cultures have rituals to help the bereaved to come to terms with their loss, but until recently, ecological loss was not even recognised as something that could be grieved, said Ellis. “Today, however, we are seeing an increasing number of memorials dedicated to losses in the natural world, such as the funeral service held earlier this year for the Okjökull glacier in western Iceland,” he said. “For me, such rituals are powerful and constructive ways of coming to terms with ecological loss, and for acknowledging our personal and shared grief.” [more]

Eco anxiety and grief: It’s real, and there are ways to cope