Written by: Jenna Ewert, CCC , RCC
As I settle in to type this post, I see papery ash falling, floating downward, lackadaisical, from smoke-laden skies. There are over a hundred active wildfires presently burning across the province of British Columbia. In the past weeks, there have been multiple evacuation alerts and orders issued for urban and rural areas. On Thursday, I watched a lightning bolt strike the hillside, followed immediately by rising smoke and the eruption of flames. On the same night, I watched in shock as a densely-populated subdivision faced a fast-growing wildfire at its perimeter, prompting the “moment’s-notice” evacuation of the entire community as the fire rapidly grew. Last week, a nearby town was ravaged by wildfire, with estimates of up to 90% of the town being destroyed. This tragedy occurred after an extreme, week-long, widespread heat wave which brought the highest-ever recorded temperatures in Canadian history. And this is only the view from home.
Near and far, humans are experiencing a sense of crisis relating to environmental threat and disaster. In therapy, more and more folks present with a clear sense of distress relating to events occurring in our natural world. Feeling nervous, concerned, and uneasy as a result of catastrophic environmental events makes sense, as through witnessing or experiencing these events, we are faced with uncertainty, vulnerability, and at times, acute fear. It’s intense.
The clinical term encompassing these feelings is “ecological anxiety”, or “eco-anxiety”, and it entails all of the overwhelming feelings associated with climate change, natural disasters, habitat destruction, resource depletion, and the many unfavourable associated implications. From a therapeutic perspective, recognizing the difference between eco-anxiety and generalized anxiety is important, as it lends to a clearer path forward in terms of mitigating or managing these feelings as they emerge.
An individual with generalized anxiety may frequently experience a heightened sense of danger whether or not a genuine threat exists; this may be felt and perceived within their physical surroundings, in their interactions with others, or within themselves. This perceived sense of a palpable threat to safety can activate the sympathetic nervous system leading to a fight or flight response; alternately, depending on the individual and the situation, the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system might engage, resulting in a collapsed or withdrawn freeze state. In either case, there is a physiological change resulting in the body’s natural threat-response system becoming activated through the experience of perceived threat.
Similarly, eco-anxiety stirs our nerves, leading to the activation of our body’s highly-attuned threat-response system. The difference here is that while generalized anxiety is often felt as a normal response to a chronic sense of perceived threat, ecological anxiety is often felt as a normal response to absolute or certain threat. Here, I want to highlight two key points: Firstly, notice the use of the term “normal” in both experiences — our system is brilliantly wired to detect threat so that we can mobilize our internal resources and behave in ways that keep us safe (think: large muscle groups activated, adrenaline released to allow access to energy stores, less physical energy directed towards digestive processes, etc.). Note that whether the threat is perceived or real does not alter the fact that our system responds in similar ways. In fact, reality and perception co-exist and can even shape each other, to an extent. Secondly, considering my aforementioned statement contrasting eco-anxiety to generalized anxiety essentially implies that there is a very valid reason to experience worry regarding the former — don’t panic!
Given that our communities (and our world) are experiencing undeniable ecological threats, this is a time to befriend and collaborate with the threat-response system, and to appreciate and honour how perfectly crafted humans truly are. We are beings with a highly effective, built-in threat-detection and self-protection system. Experiencing or witnessing destructive ecological events, or even increasing our awareness of the potential of environmental destruction or collapse, is overwhelming. It is natural for our nervous systems to respond, our emotions to escalate, and to feel intense or heightened energy. These are the autonomic system’s instinctive functions, and it’s really good at doing its job. In viewing this sympathetic activation (overwhelm) as natural, normal, and useful, we can draw upon this shift in state in ways that feel helpful. With the support of our nervous systems, we are able to mobilize (if this feels right!). So, what does this look like?
Well, while many people presume (and for good reason) that anxiety is best managed by slow, deep breathing, mindfulness exercises, talk therapy, pharmacological treatment, and other common methods of regulating the nervous system, eco-anxiety may be better managed by allowing oneself to be empowered by its activation: enacting change, becoming involved in conservation or environmental advocacy, re-evaluating personal practices around eco-friendly living, volunteering time or donating resources to supportive causes, increasing one’s own knowledge through research and conversation, etc. And if it feels better to sit in a place of stillness, then do that instead. Most importantly, recognize your inner wisdom as being on your team. Regardless of the strategies you feel called to utilize, know that your body and brain are working together to keep you safe, both perceptually and in actuality.
To further expand on how we can move through our experiences of eco-anxiety, we can draw on the tenets of existentialism, which asks the big questions, such as why are we here and what is the purpose of it all? Really, ecological threat and existential threat are a package deal — you tend not to get one without the other. It can be easy to fall into a state of existential despair when we consider what’s happening around us; however, we are not powerless nor are we incapable of overcoming these heavy feelings resulting from environmental uncertainty. While existentialists posit that life is full of “givens”, such as loss, isolation, and death (really sunny dispositions, those existentialists!), they state we can overcome this sense of dread by seeking a balance between awareness and anxiety, between stress and overwhelm, between meaningfulness and distress. Existentialists also posit we can mitigate our anxiety through connection, whether that be connection with the self, with others (hello good friends and/or trusted therapist), or with a cause larger than ourselves. We can reframe our anxiety as motivation, and utilize one of the most valuable strategies of minimizing any form of anxiety, which is focusing on what we, as individuals, are able to control.
And so, with that knowing, invite yourself to consider what is within your immediate control, and let that be your starting point. For many, simply connecting with the body and/or the breath is a good beginning. We are often able to control our muscle movements, subtle or large, as well as the length and depth of our inhalations and exhalations. We can unclench our jaws, allow our shoulders to sink down, relax our facial muscles, have a glass of water and hydrate our cells, reach our arms up to stretch, and fill our bodies with oxygen. We can control how we nourish ourselves - our bodies and minds - through choosing whole foods and perhaps taking a break from news or social media. We can control what information we choose to take in, and we can control what actions we execute as a response. We can move through our experiences of anxiety with awareness, feeling grateful to our nervous systems for their guidance and support. We can connect with others, join advocacy groups, make lifestyle changes, and increase our knowledge, leading to a sense of self-efficacy and personal empowerment.
Lastly, we can recognize that our inner selves are, in some ways, a microcosmic reflection of the environment at large — we are not, in fact, separate, from our natural systems; rather, we are interconnected beings comprised of earthly elements, deserving of the same care and tending to as the flora and fauna of ecosystems everywhere. We can start with ourselves, with what’s within our control, and slowly allow the focus to expand outward - whether to action or to stillness - then take it from there. Even the smokiest skies can’t conceal a vision of healing, for ourselves and our planet, when we individually and collectively recognize that even the most formidable journeys begin with taking that first small step.