Stop Stressing and Take Action Outside

Guest Opinion

By Cathye Williams | June 15, 2024

It’s looking to be another knockout northern Michigan summer this year, but many of us have little time to enjoy it.

How about you? Do you mostly see lakes and dunes through your windshield as you rush from task to task? Do you hear the birds as you slam your first coffee, and then notice the glow of fireflies while you’re schlepping in your groceries at the end of a long day? You might catch a whiff of freshly-cut hay along the way, but seldom do any of us have the time to linger and take it all in as we should. As we labor longer, sometimes at more than one job, the ever elusive work-life “balance” is more like a wild juggling act than a practice in Zen-like serenity.

It’s a shame, because taking time to soak in nature has a positive overall effect on our mental and physical wellness. Stress that is frequent or prolonged, on the other hand, is linked to a multitude of mental and physical ailments.

Stress seems to come in waves these days, sometimes in tsunami style. Along with the usual suspects that cause anxiety in our lives—work, family, money, social strife—we now can add the worry about the future of all life, as we collectively face down the climate crisis.

Until recently, the bulk of research about mental health and climate change has been focused on people experiencing trauma from climate-driven disasters or the instability and uncertainty of people living in vulnerable areas. More recently, social scientists are looking at people’s thoughts and feelings about the climate crisis and how it will affect their future—and the future of humankind—regardless of if they have yet been impacted directly or not.

“Climate anxiety” has emerged as the term describing “distressing feelings related to climate change impacts…often rooted in feelings of uncertainty, lack of control and concerns over well-being or safety” (University of Colorado, 2024).

This phenomenon is growing among the world’s youth. In a study published in Lancet, researchers surveyed 10,000 young people aged 16-25 in 10 countries. Across all countries, a significant number reported worry about climate change, 59 percent being very or extremely worried and 84 percent at least moderately worried. Fully half reported feeling each of the following: “sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, guilty.”

The paper, which called urgently for further study of this troubling mental health finding, concluded that climate anxiety and dissatisfaction with leaders’ actions are widespread in young people across the world and associated with feelings of betrayal. An earlier study also reported nearly half of 18 to 34-year-olds say that stress about climate change affects their lives (American Psychological Society, 2020).

Not shocking, just sad. I don’t know about climate anxiety, but I sure do have distressing feelings, and my experience with nature has become bittersweet. The birds I love to hear each morning now also remind me that many feathered species have gone silent. Peaceful floats down a river dissolve into thoughts of other waters that have either dried up or washed away their banks, abandoning the life they supported. If it's 75 degrees and lovely—you guessed it—my mind goes to the people facing record shattering heat waves expected to continue for days or weeks, and we’re barely into the season. I would like these distressing feelings to stop, mostly because they do no good for me or the people and creatures I grieve for.

Fear about the future in our overheating world is “a rational response to an existential threat” (Lowe, Yale Sustainability), and not something we can try to reason away. Is it healthy? Productive? Probably not. Then how does one cope in a world where our responses are not up to the enormity of the problem?

While self-care (stop the doom scrolling!) and individual actions like carpooling or recycling matter, health professionals at the University of Colorado offer more ideas for coping with climate anxiety: Focus on what you can control, practice compassion, and talk about it (University of Colorado, 2024).

Beyond this, experts at Yale’s Climate Connections propose that taking on climate change is one of the most powerful ways to combat feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, “not as an individual, but as part of a group” (Leiserowitz, 2023).

Ready to fight climate change and feel better? Find your group, take action, and get outside!

Cathye Williams is a local climate activist. She writes from the northern corner of Manistee County.