Ricky Schrott
opinion
August 10, 2023 | 3:30 PM
Climate change therapists are exploding in popularity as Generation Z succumbs to “environmental anxiety.”
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Now is the time to celebrate progress in the fight against climate change.
This week, American scientists made a historic breakthrough in recreating nuclear fusion. This reaction has the potential to unlock cheap, clean, and unlimited energy.
But those who cause climate change may be so paralyzed by their worries that they may not even notice it.
So-called “environmental insecurity” is a problem so pervasive that it was recently reported by PBS Newshour. Host a climate psychotherapist Leslie Davenport discusses how to combat it.
“It interferes with daily life, it keeps you awake at night, it interferes with your enjoyment of life, and it certainly has the potential to be the biggest concern,” Davenport said.
She listed a range of symptoms, including “high levels of physiological distress, heart palpitations, and intrusive thoughts.”
According to Clayton Page Aldern’s forthcoming book The Weight of Nature, it’s not just environmental concerns that are troubling people. A number of new climate-change-related psychiatric conditions are emerging, including climate-change grief, environmental depression, and pre-traumatic stress disorder.
Davenport website She notes that her clinic is not accepting new clients due to the influx of demand. She told PBS that there has been a “big leap” in demand from young people over the past five years.
a A recent survey of 16- to 25-year-olds Two out of three people say they feel sad or scared because of climate change. And a staggering 45% report that they are worried about the climate interfering with their daily lives.
As a Gen Z, I once felt the same way.
From middle school to high school, I remember feeling sick to my stomach and sweating on my palms in science classes. There we were effectively taught that climate change had reached a point of no return. It felt like the world was ending and everything was decided. We are all destined.
Teenagers and young adults around the world are being told they are living in the end times, and our generation is growing up crippled with crippling fear.
#EcoAnxiety hashtag surges on TikTok 48.5 million views.
Popular creators, like TikToker’s Coyote Annie, are posting fierce claims about their impending doom. Collected 500,000 likes In a video, he claimed to have had an hour-long panic attack about climate change.
“This is the scene in ‘Titanic’ when it hits the iceberg,” she said. “If this video isn’t scary enough for you, do a little homework.”
Comment on TikTok It is full of despair and the declaration that “we are dead”.
“I feel like the government is killing us and our future children. I honestly cry about it almost every day.” TikTok user Jesse Wickham said:.
Anissa Riviere remembered“In 2001, when I was six years old, I remember being told, ‘Your generation must fix the world.’ How could we avoid worrying about climate change? ”
Kaylamint3 claimed They have had “literally devastating” climate anxiety since third grade.
and the The saddest comment from ocollison1“Every time I think about my future, I feel fear and anticipation because I don’t think we can live that long.”
Between social media and alarming headlines on their phones 24/7, Gen Z has grown up in fear of an apocalyptic climate.
Greta Thunberg — the face of climate change concern posters — made a name for himself He claimed that world leaders “stole her dream” and that “we are at the beginning of a mass extinction.”
famous for AOC Declared the world to end 12 years later if we don’t tackle climate change… 4 years ago.
Kamala Harris these days Addressing climate anxiety During an event at Northfield High School in Colorado, he said, It’s bang bang. “
But those who are truly invested in a better future should stop sending young people into a spiral of ruin.
Instead of curling up and yelling “environmental fears,” the zoomers will have to tackle climate change head-on and come up with solutions.
Concern about climate change is disempowering young people who should be encouraged by the fact that they are living in an era of spectacular progress.
Elon Musk made electric cars cool. Economic growth is less dependent About fossil fuels. And scientists are literally trying to rewrite the laws of nuclear energy.
Our only hope for a greener future is a generation of inspirational innovators, not environmental crybabys.
For the mental health of Gen Z, and for the planet, the climate doomsday rhetoric is time to end.
