April 4, 2026

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By Summer Rylander

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Conversations around climate change tend to focus on the tangible: think rising sea levels, increasing wildfires, loss of biodiversity, or extreme weather. There’s a less visible shift happening, too, though, within the human psyche. As environmental systems destabilize, so too does our sense of safety, continuity, and future origination. Researchers are increasingly identifying climate change as not only an ecological and economic crisis, but a mental health one. 

 

Emerging terms like eco-anxiety and climate grief attempt to name a new category of psychological experience that is becoming a defining emotional undercurrent of the 21st century, but what does it all actually mean?

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Naming the emotional landscape 

 

Eco-anxiety is described as a chronic fear of environmental doom. Unlike some traditional anxiety disorders, eco-anxiety is rooted in rational appraisal of real-world threats. It’s often a response to reality rather than a distortion of facts.

 

Similarly, the concept of climate grief gives name to the sadness evoked by the impacts of climate change on society and daily life. It relates closely to the term solastalgia, which combines “solace” and “nostalgia” to describe the distress of one’s home environment changing in ways that feel irreversible. 

 

Solastalgia inspired a 2024 intermedia art installation by artist Megan Harton in a collaboration between Ocean Networks Canada and the University of Victoria Fine Arts department. The installation, solastalgia [soon to be what once was], explored the emotional and psychological effects of a changing environment through an immersive blend of audio and visual elements.  

 

These terms indicate that climate-related distress isn’t limited to a single emotion, but rather a concept that spans the full spectrum of fear, anger, grief, guilt, and helplessness.

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A growing psychological burden

 

Scientific literature demonstrates that awareness of climate change is associated with demonstrable mental health impacts. A 2024 review of over 45,000 participants found that eco-anxiety correlates with increased psychological distress, with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress. 

 

Additional studies reinforce this link. Distress over climate change has been shown to predict higher levels of anxiety and depression in adolescents – even when accounting for other stressors such as war or pandemic. Climate anxiety is also associated with functional impairments such as sleep disruption, reduced concentration, and a generally diminished quality of life. 

 

This research matters because it challenges the notion that eco-anxiety is an abstract concern, when it is one that very much affects cognition and behaviour. Mental health professionals are already seeing the shift, with reports suggesting that an increasing number of individuals are seeking support for climate-related distress, stating that it interferes with everyday life.

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Younger generations feel it most

 

Vulnerability to the mental health aspects of climate change is shaped in part by geography and socioeconomic status. But while climate anxiety spans all age groups, it is especially prominent amongst younger populations. Perhaps unsurprisingly, younger people are more likely to perceive climate change as a defining feature of their future rather than a distant risk. Research suggests that eco-anxiety is amplified by a perceived lack of agency, with individuals feeling responsible for a crisis they didn’t create, yet are uncertain about how to address it in a meaningful way. 

 

For many, this translates into existential questioning. What does it mean to plan a life – career, family, identity – against a backdrop of ecological instability? In some cases, these concerns do influence major life decisions. Surveys indicate that climate fears are shaping decisions about where to live, whether to have children, and how to engage with society at large. Everything from household recycling habits to the morality of long-haul flights can come into question here.

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The psychology of awareness

 

One of the more complex aspects of climate-related mental health is that it doesn’t require direct experience of disaster. Extreme weather events may well trigger acute psychological trauma, but many individuals are experiencing distress through indirect exposure. 

 

Media coverage, social discourse, scientific reports, and localized chatter can create a form of “vicarious” climate stress. Individuals internalize the urgency of the environmental crisis without the direct physical impact. This means that eco-anxiety is present even in relatively climate-stable regions, because awareness alone can be sufficient to generate mental distress – especially when coupled with a feeling of helplessness. 

 

Some researchers, however, argue that eco-anxiety can function as an adaptive response rather than a purely pathological one. Climate-related anxiety is sometimes associated with increased engagement in pro-environmental behaviour such as a greater interest in sustainability measures and action-oriented responses. 

 

This nuance signifies that not all climate-related distress is harmful. While pathological anxiety can lead to withdrawal and despair, adaptive anxiety can be a catalyst for meaningful change. The challenge lies in the tipping point between the two.

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Adaptation in a changing world

 

If climate change is a long-term condition, then adaptation must extend beyond infrastructure and policy to include psychological resilience. Emerging research emphasizes the importance of what some call climate agency, or the capacity to engage with the environmental crisis in ways that feel meaningful and constructive. This might include community action, advocacy, or small-scale behavioural changes that restore a sense of control. 

 

Part of resilience is the normalization of climate emotions. The framing of eco-anxiety as a legitimate response rather than something to be dismissed can reduce isolation and stigma. At a systemic level, there is growing recognition that mental health services must integrate climate awareness into their frameworks. Prevention and intervention strategies will need to address not only individual coping mechanisms, but the broader social context in which distress arises.

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A new emotional baseline

 

Ultimately, climate-related distress should be understood as a predictable outcome of sustained environmental threat. From a psychological perspective, these responses map closely onto established models of chronic stress, anticipatory grief, and altered risk perception, particularly under conditions of prolonged uncertainty. The task ahead is therefore not to eliminate eco-anxiety, but to better characterize its thresholds. Understanding when eco-anxiety impairs functioning versus when it supports adaptive engagement will better allow its integration into mental health practice and climate policy alike. 

 

References

 

1. U.S. National Library of Medicine. (n.d.). Eco-anxiety: A systematic review. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12322330/

2. Ojala, M. et al. (2025). Climate change and mental health: A review of psychological responses and coping strategies. Ecology and Society, 30(4). https://ecologyandsociety.org/vol30/iss4/art9/

3. European Union. (n.d.). The impact of climate change on young people’s mental health. https://youth.europa.eu/get-involved/sustainable-development/impact-of-climate-change-young-peoples-mental-health_en

4. University of Victoria. (2024). On climate change and air: Intersections of environment and mental health. https://finearts.uvic.ca/research/blog/2024/05/30/onc24air/

5. U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2024). Eco-anxiety and mental health: A systematic review. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11577747/

6. Ogunbode, C. A. et al. (2024). Climate anxiety, wellbeing, and mental health outcomes. Psych, 6(4). https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5318/6/4/119

7. Elsevier. (2025). Climate change and its psychological impacts on daily functioning. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825010376

8. Government of the United Kingdom. (n.d.). Climate change awareness and mental health. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/climate-change-awareness-and-mental-health

9. U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2024). Climate distress, agency, and psychological responses. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12732531/

10. Harvard University. (2023). Thinking about having a baby during the climate crisis. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/11/thinking-about-having-baby-even-during-climate-crisis/

11. Clayton, S. et al. (2024). Climate change and mental health. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-081423-025932

12. Elsevier. (2024). Eco-anxiety and pro-environmental behaviour. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494424000999

13. AXA Research Fund. (n.d.). Climate Cares: Building youth resilience to climate-related mental health impacts. https://axa-research.org/funded-projects/climate-environment/climate-cares-building-youth-resilience-by-understanding-and-intervening-on-the-mental-health-impacts-of-climate-awareness