Helping youth move from climate anxiety to climate action

In 2020, 15-year-old Natalie Heller stepped outside her San Francisco home to an orange sky, a result of Northern California’s massive, climate-driven wildfires. “It was like we were on Mars,” recalled Heller, now a sophomore in environmental studies at the University of Southern California and a Gen Z adviser at the Climate Mental Health Network, an organization that offers tools to address the emotional impacts of the climate crisis.

Almost 99% of children in the world have been exposed to at least one climate or environmental hazard in their lifetime, whether that is heat waves, cyclones, floods, water scarcity, or vector-borne diseases (The Climate Crisis Is a Child Rights Crisis, UNICEF, 2021opens in new window). Children are also more physically vulnerable to extreme weather events than adults, facing bigger risks in terms of physiological consequences and even death. 

“We have lots and lots of evidence that experiencing these kinds of extreme events, the storms, the wildfires, etc., is associated with threats to mental health, increases in anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder,” said Susan Clayton, PhD, a member of APA’s Climate Change Advisory Group and a professor of psychology at The College of Wooster in Ohio.

The ongoing reality of climate change and its consequences has significant psychological implications for young people, research is finding. In a survey of 15,793 U.S. youth ages 16 to 25, 85% said they were at least moderately worried, and 57.9% said they were very or extremely worried about climate change and its impacts on people and the planet. Meanwhile, 42.8% said that climate change impacted their mental health, and 38.3% said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily lives (Lewandowski, R. E., et al., The Lancet Planetary Health, Vol. 8, No. 11, 2024opens in new window). Similarly, a survey of 10,000 young people ages 16 to 24 in 10 countries found that 59% felt very or extremely concerned about climate change, expressing anger, sadness, powerlessness, fear, and other negative emotions, and they attributed a decrease in their ability to eat, sleep, concentrate, perform at school or work, engage in leisure activities, and maintain relationships to those feelings (How Youth Climate Anxiety Is Linked to Government Inaction, Avaaz, 2021opens in new windowlogin requiredlogin required).

Climate anxiety can even impact the cognitive development of children and youth, according to research highlighted in APA’s Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Children and Youth Report 2023. Extreme weather events caused by climate change can disrupt normal fetal development, increasing the risk of anxiety, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, educational challenges, lower self-control, and psychiatric disorders later in life. 

In fact, anxiety related to climate change could be considered a public health issue, said Lise Van Susteren, MD, a forensic psychiatrist and cofounder of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance, an organization that educates mental health professionals and the public about the effects of the climate crisis on mental health. This anxiety can resurface when young people encounter something later that reminds them of the event, such as thick cloud cover or smoke. In turn, such emotions can impact the cardiovascular, immune, digestive, and neurological systems, research finds (Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2021opens in new window).

Knowing that a climate disaster could strike at any moment can morph into what is now known as climate anxiety, also called ­eco-anxiety or eco-distress, according to the Climate Mental Health Network (Climate Change & Youth Mental Health: Psychological Impacts, Resilience Resources, & Future Directions, Climate Mental Health Network, 2021opens in new window). The terms describe the distressopens in new window people feel about the effects of climate change on the environment and human life, and have led to the emergence of related concepts like eco-grief—sadness about ecosystem changes—and solastalgia, or nostalgia for what the environment used to be. 

At its core, climate anxiety is fear about a lack of security and is a completely natural response to environmental challenges, said Leslie Davenport, MS, LMFT, a mental health professional who specializes in climate issues and leads the Climate Psychology Certificate program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, the first such program in the United States. “It means you care about what’s happening. You’re paying attention. You’re empathetic.”

In an overall sense, young people may feel anger and frustration that decision-makers and older generations have left them with a world in crisis—one they did not create but must fix, said Sarah Newman, MPH, a public health expert and founder of the Climate Mental Health Network, which helps communities address climate-related emotions through resources for mental well-being. While it is important to help young people cope with their feelings around climate change, “this is about governments and structures failing,” she said. 

In fact, research finds that this perceived inaction by political leaders is also linked to feelings of climate anxiety, distress, and betrayal among young people (How Youth Climate Anxiety Is Linked to Government Inaction, Avaaz, 2021opens in new windowlogin requiredlogin required). Although ultimately governments are responsible for large-scale efforts to mitigate climate change, psychologists, educators, and organizations supporting youth can play a crucial role by implementing training programs to manage climate emotions and foster resilience. Additionally, they can create initiatives to ensure that young voices are heard in climate policy discussions to help mitigate feelings of powerlessness among young people (The Role of the Youth Sector in Addressing Young People’s Climate Emotions, European Union–Council of Europe Youth Partnership, 2024opens in new window).

“[Anger] can be a good motivator for people to get involved, and get engaged, and take action,” Clayton said, pointing out that research has shown that getting involved can be helpful for mental health “because then people don’t feel like passive victims.”

The mental health impact of climate change on youth is increasingly drawing attention from psychologists, other mental health professionals, researchers, and activists. In the clinical realm, some psychologists are starting to address eco-anxiety as a regular part of their practice. About a decade ago, for example, Laura Carter Robinson, PsyD, a clinical psychologist in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who is part of APA’s Climate Change Community of Scholars and Practitioners, began noticing that several of her teenage and young adult patients were expressing concern about the climate, whether it was extreme weather, the damage to ecosystems near them, or pollution. They also told her that some of their peers and prior therapists tended to dismiss their feelings. 

Robinson saw an opportunity to create a niche that allowed young people to safely explore these topics. “It was like the floodgates opened,” said Robinson, who has incorporated in her practiceopens in new window specific tools to address climate anxiety like hiking therapy and support for those taking climate-based action. “People came from all over the place because they were like, ‘Here’s someone who knows what to do with this and someone who is open to talking about it.’”

As Robinson continued to work in the area, she became more attuned to subtle signs of her young patients’ concerns. For example, when they brought up topics like air-conditioning or a thunderstorm, it sometimes revealed deeper fears about the dangers that extreme weather can pose. Robinson also has observed that climate anxiety can feed into young people’s thinking about major life decisions, including where to live and whether to have children. “A huge amount of what we do is work on uncertainty, and on developing some measure of comfort with living with uncertainty,” she said. 

Other psychologists and researchers are contributing to these issues on a larger scale, lending their theories and ideas to help others explore broader topics such as how ­meaning-focused coping—a strategy that transforms anxiety and distress into a sense of purpose—can enhance mental well-being. They are also examining how constructive hope, a positive mindset that combines optimism with the belief in working on meaningful goals, can help improve mental health (Ojala, M., & Chen, X., in Haase, E., & Hudson, K. [Eds.], Climate Change & Youth Mental Health, Cambridge University Press, 2024opens in new window). 

For instance, youth activism programs, where young people feel they are contributing to solve an issue, can foster these types of positive feelings, said Maria Ojala, PhD, a research psychologist who is teaching socio-ecological resilience at the University of Oulu in Finland. Research shows that hope is not about sitting passively waiting for something to happen; it can also be action-oriented, involving taking steps toward a specific goal.

The organization DearTomorrowopens in new window is a case in point. It encourages youth and others to write personal letters to their loved ones and the versions of themselves living in the future to help them imagine a better future and focus on the actions they can take to create it. Anyone can participate, and through various activities and exhibits the organization encourages intergenerational conversations where adults and children can exchange points of view and young people can find a sense of community.

Researchers have found that such constructive hope can help reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety (Baudon, P., & Jachens, L., International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 18, No. 18, 2021opens in new window). “We need hope; we need positive emotions. Also, we need meaning to buffer, not to get rid of, the negative emotions,” Ojala said. 

Children themselves, as well as their schools and teachers, are applying some of these ideas and tools in creative ways. For example, Lulu Homer, a 10-year-old living in Los Angeles, began Future Fightersopens in new window, a group that creates kid-friendly ways to engage in activism. The group is the result of an aha moment she had when she was 7 and attending summer camp. She was about to have a salad for lunch, but it was entirely wrapped in plastic. She had just read a book about the damage plastic was doing to the environment and felt distraught when she learned that plastic waste harms sea animals and the ecosystem as a whole. 

Homer did not eat the salad; instead, she brought a letteropens in new window to the camp director, signed by fellow campers, that asked the director to use more earth-friendly packaging. Eventually, the director did. Today, with the support of parents, Homer’s group holds beach cleanups and bake sales to raise funds for climate groups, among other activities.

Meanwhile, after seeing the sky turn orange, Heller also felt a deep sense of urgency to get involved and do something for the planet. She joined her school’s environmental club as well as an independent group organized by some of her classmates, which ultimately grew into the Bay Area Youth Climate Summitopens in new window, a nonprofit that empowers youth to become climate educators, activists, and leaders.

Having a space to share with others who were also feeling anxious or frustrated about climate change helped her deal with those emotions, Heller said. “Not being so isolated has helped so much—it is like a coping mechanism,” she said. “I’ve met some of my best friends there, and I learned how to become a leader.”

Besides her action and advocacy work, Heller’s participation in different activist and mental health organizations has taught her strategies to take care of her mental health, like journaling and giving herself time to rest and pause whenever she feels burned out or overwhelmed. 

[Related: Mental health and our changing climate: Children and youth report] 

Schools, too, are beginning to introduce coping tools to support climate-related emotions. A 2021 UNESCO study that evaluated the curricula of schools in 100 countries around the world found that 53% of them include climate change (Getting Every School Climate-Readyopens in new window). However, there is a long way to go and teachers are not always trained to deal with the emotions that can emerge, said Davenport, author of APA’s Magination Press book What to Do When Climate Change Scares You (2024).

For example, discussions about environmental impacts often start in science classrooms, but those conversations usually lack an aspect that helps kids process their emotions. There is an important opportunity for teachers to craft activities that help kids process what they have learned and to reflect on it, said Davenport. One option educators and parents can use is toggling, an emotion regulation technique that helps people build cognitive flexibility, which allows for having difficult conversations about climate change and related feelings, as well as sharing positive emotions and actions that can help the environment and bring joy, Davenport explained. 

Meanwhile, the Climate Mental Health Network has developed a tool that is being used in schools and other settings to help people identify feelings related to this anxiety. In collaboration with Panu Pihkala, PhD, an eco-anxiety researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland, the group created the Climate Emotions Wheelopens in new window, which identifies 23 climate-related emotions that are divided into four main quadrants: anger, sadness, fear, and positivity (Frontiers in Climate, Vol. 3, 2021opens in new window). The wheel has been translated into more than 20 languages, including an emoji version for children.

“It’s really about recognizing that these emotions are normal, that they are valid,” Newman said. In addition, the network’s 2021 report identified seven components that help promote emotional resilience in the face of climate anxiety: acknowledging and validating feelings, developing emotional coping tools, making social connections, interacting with nature, taking climate action, employing self-care, and building climate justice awareness.

Parents and teachers can also create spaces to practice mindfulness, said Davenport. For kids, that does not necessarily mean having to sit still and take notice of their breathing: Any activity that helps them focus on the present moment and come back to themselves is great, whether that is running a lap around the block, practicing a sport, or doing artwork.

It is also important to support parents and their emotions around a changing climate, said Elizabeth Bechard, the public health manager of Moms Clean Air Forceopens in new window, a nonprofit that mobilizes parents and caregivers to act on behalf of kids to fight climate change and air pollution. A survey of more than 1,000 parents with children under age 6 across the United States found that extreme heat is causing increased stress, impacting both their work and their ability to care for their children, and 84% reported that extreme weather negatively affects their physical health or emotional well-being (Heating Up: Extreme Weather Is Increasing Stress for Parents and Child Care Providers, The RAPID Survey Project, 2024opens in new window). “Many parents are struggling with their own emotions about climate change,” Bechard said, which can get in the way of the conversations they have with their kids. Ways to support caregivers might include opening spaces where parents can talk about their emotions in a “climate café,” or crafting group events or listservs where they can check in with each other.

[Related: Jiaying Zhao helps people enjoy protecting the planet] 

Given that children and adolescents spend most of their day in schools, APA is working to support schools in their climate resiliency efforts. To this end, APA has partnered with 11 national associations to form the Network for Resilient Pre-K to 12 Schools in Extreme Climates in order to leverage collective efforts to address the impacts of severe weather events and build resilience among school personnel and students. These efforts include focusing on mental health and overall well-being in ways that are practical, scalable, and contextually relevant to the diverse needs of school communities. The partner organizations are the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers, American Public Health Association, Children’s Environmental Health Network, Climate Mental Health Network, National Association for the Education of Young Children, National Association of School Nurses, National Education Association, National Environmental Education Foundation, National Parent Teacher Association, and Project Drawdown. Updates will be featured on APA’s Center for Psychology in Schools and Education as their work evolves.

While there is good work underway, the field is ripe for more input, Climate Psychiatry Alliance’s Van Susteren and others said. To name just one example, there is still a big need to create additional actionable programs that address climate anxiety and are tailored to young people. Other knowledge gaps include how racial and ethnic differences shape climate emotions, the mental health effects of climate change awareness on those most likely to suffer its worst consequences, and how to design effective interventions in low-income countries where survival takes precedence over mental health concerns like climate anxiety. 

Research is also needed to better understand how children at different ages perceive the threat of climate change, what kinds of interventions or programs might help them be resilient in the face of these challenges, and how to create educational resources for teachers to help youth cope, said Clayton.

Clayton remains optimistic and hopes that governments and institutions will see the value of funding such research but also understands this can be challenging because the political agenda plays a big role. On the positive side, public agencies are becoming increasingly aware of the ways in which climate change threatens health, “so I think there’s interest in funding a lot of these kinds of programs,” she said.

Beyond research and interventions aimed at addressing climate anxiety among youth, Van Susteren believes the issue must be addressed at its root. “Either we treat the cancer that is carbon emissions, or we sit in hospice care until we’re ready to treat the cancer,” she said.