Can climate change make you depressed?
Anxiety, sadness and powerlessness: young people increasingly appear to be experiencing feelings of depression in relation to climate change. The term “eco-anxiety” is becoming increasingly common – but what actually does it mean? And does it make sense for people to be diagnosed with this condition? “Everyone has climate change anxiety. Anyone who does not feel anxious is still in denial.”
By her own account, Elvire Rikkert (20, Future Planet Studies) suffered from climate depression for two years. She can still vividly recall the day that her climate change concerns became serious: it was 15 March 2019, the day one million young people worldwide held a protest against climate change. Rikkert turned sixteen that day and joined the Youth for Climate Luxembourg activist group.
Rikkert describes her climate depression as obsessive behaviour that she was forced to deal with on a daily basis. Every day she would calculate how to reduce her own ecological footprint as much as possible. “I’d very much focus on what I was eating, how I got around and would buy everything second-hand.”
At her lowest point, Rikkert even stopped setting an alarm clock because her alarm used electricity. “That’s when you end up in a negative spiral. After a year I came to the conclusion that the very best thing you can do for the climate is not to exist anymore.” Rikkert believes that the depression came from a feeling of sorrow for the planet, for biodiversity and for animals. “It’s a feeling of powerlessness.”
Bruno Bettega Pergher (32), a Chemistry PhD candidate, is familiar with that feeling of powerlessness. “You feel small and mourn the things that have already been lost, like animal and plant species, human lives and the living conditions of people in large parts of the world.” To some extent, Pergher feels he would call the mental state he was is for a number of months depression – it was worse than “just” worrying – but, for him, it did not lead to inactivity for a long period of time.
In his case, the gloom began four years ago when he first started his PhD in chemistry. Pergher wanted to understand what sustainability actually meant and began reading more and more about it. “What I was reading was very depressing, to say the least. At first I began feeling very low coupled with a sense of despair. I realised: we are really fucked – so why isn’t anything happening?” Not long after, he joined the Extinction Rebellion (XR) climate change protests.
Four stages
Sandra van der Meer (25, Forensic Sciences) has seen a lot of students going through a similar process as Pergher. Van der Meer was a member of the board of the Jonge Klimaatbeweging (Young Climate Movement) in the past year. “First people start reading more about climate change and once they realise the gravity of it all they often attempt to reduce their own footprint. But at a certain point you just hit a brick wall”, says Van der Meer. “For example, when you read a newspaper article about Elon Musk flying to the moon, you realise that individual action is negligible.”
In the third stage, some students will join activist groups. “Unfortunately, I also see a fourth stage, in which students become so actively involved in climate change movements that they end up having burnout or becoming depressed. They then stop engaging in activism for a few years.”
Van der Meer has seen several people in her immediate circle who no longer function in everyday life due to their serious concerns about climate change. “At first it wasn’t taken very seriously among their peers, but now people are increasingly calling in “climate depression”.”
Avoiding a therapist
And yet student suffering from climate change-related issues are not seeking out the UvA’s student GPs. Inquiries show that in the past three and a half years, only two students consulted the GP practice with excessive worries, concerns and anxiety about climate change. The UvA’s student psychologists have the impression that this “occasionally” occurs among students, but that it is not a salient issue or highly prevalent issue.
None of the students that Folia spoke to had sought help from a climate psychologist, more often consulting friends and like-minded people for advice. Activist groups such as XR occasionally organise group sessions led by a psychologist. “For me, getting out of it was really a collective process”, says Pergher. “If I’d have had to do it on my own, I wouldn’t have succeeded so easily. Communities are crucial to avoiding getting bogged down in despair.”
Rikkert’s turning point proved to be when she decided to study Future Planet Studies in Amsterdam; she put her activist life on the back burner. “You can’t do a programme in climate studies and also constantly be working on climate change in your spare time – it’s too tiring.”
A media-friendly term
Can concerns about climate change indeed become so intense that they lead to depression? Any relevant research is still in its infancy and there are no clinical psychologists working on that issue at the UvA. This is unsurprising, says mental healthcare psychologist Sara Helmink, who is also the founder of the national climate psychology foundation. “Climate depression is a term that originated in the media. It”s a media-friendly term that has no scientific substantiation. The questionnaires that exist make no distinction between climate change anxiety and climate depression.”
This does not alter the fact that there are people who consult climate psychologists and say that they are struggling psychologically, Helmink qualifies. “I believe recognition and support are very important in this regard. In my view, psychologists should be more aware of this.”
Emeritus Professor of Mental Healthcare Jaap van der Stel believe that the term “climate depression” (Dutch: klimaatdepressie) is a poor translation of the American term “eco-anxiety”. In the US, people don’t use the term eco-anxiety disorder – it’s a major difference. Anxiety is a “normal” emotion, so is feeling low. However, an anxiety disorder means that it lasts longer, that it has a harmful impact on your daily life and that changes are occurring in your brain.
That is why Helmink and Van der Stel prefer to refer to a “significant and persistent sense of concern or gloom due to the climate crisis”. “This matches what climate psychologists are saying: “climate depression or eco anxiety is a normal response to an abnormal situation”.”
Van der Stel considers the likelihood that someone ends up suffering from clinical depression solely due to concerns about climate change to be fairly low. “Often clinical depression is a combination of psychological, social, physical or medical factors.”
The betrayal of the powers
According to British psychotherapist Caroline Hickman, climate change can indeed lead to clinical depression. Last summer, she visited the Amsterdam Artis Zoo to speak on eco-anxiety in young people. Hickman has been conducting research worldwide into emotional responses to climate change for the past ten years and is a renowned researcher in her field. “Anxiety is often the first emotion, followed by anger and denial. And once you realise that climate change is real, you might feel depressed”, she says, speaking on the phone. “As well as experience despair and powerlessness – absolutely.”
Hickman agrees that naturally multiple factors are at play in relation to clinical depression. “It’s a misconception that climate change is the sole cause of climate depression. It is also caused by seeing others fail to take action, which is what scares people the most.”
Hickman believes that climate depression is more about the relationship we have with those in power than it is an individual, mental health problem. “The betrayal of the powers that be who are failing to take action causes moral injury, as a result of which we feel powerless, abandoned and depressed.”
Official diagnosis
Psychologists are currently debating whether “climate depression” should become an official diagnosis, which could give people the recognition of the emotions they are experiencing. UvA student Rikkert thinks there may be something in that: “I think that depression is mainly about getting stuck in your own mind, whereas climate depression is much more about the world around you”.
Hickman argues against diagnosis for the same reason, saying: “Climate anxiety is not a personal problem, it’s a collective issue. It would mean diagnosing the entire world”.
Helmink and Van der Stel are not in favour of official diagnosis due to the lack of scientific evidence. Van der Stel: “Moreover, there are already enough categories such as “clinical depression” or “anxiety disorder” that can accurately describe people’s condition”.
Hickman believes that an official diagnosis can even detract from the solution. “It could shift the focus to treating the individuals, whereas the problem – climate change – remains unsolved. Diagnosis can even be dangerous because it suggests that there is something wrong with that group of people, which can have a polarising impact.”
Sustainable activism
Hickman emphasises that students who experience climate anxiety are anything but sick. “I always say: you’re not crazy, these feelings are perfectly logical. Climate anxiety is a healthy response to the threat of climate change. I would even go so far as to say that people who are
not worried are unhealthy. Don’t they see the danger? I”m more worried about the mental health of people who aren’t concerned.”
Students are in the age group that is most concerned about climate change. Worldwide 59 per cent of young people aged between 16-25 years old has serious concerns, as is shown by the first large-scale study conducted by Caroline Hickman, psychotherapist and researcher at the University of Bath, in 2021.
Interviewed 10,000 young people
As part of the study, Hickman interviewed 10,000 young people from 10 countries, ranging from the Philippines to the United Kingdom, of whom 45 per cent indicated that climate change affected their daily lives. “Everyone has climate anxiety. Anyone who doesn’t feel anxiety is still in denial”, Hickman told her audience at Artis this summer.
But what can someone do to fight climate depression? Hickman believes that the solution ultimately lies in action against climate change. “Only then will the concerns abate. Moreover, taking action in itself makes you a lot less afraid.”
Until then, climate anxiety will be a fact of life. Hickman: “We can’t make these feelings of discomfort go away. But we can change out attitude towards these emotions, find meaning in them and thus achieve sustainable activism. At that point, you can feel okay with the fact that you don’t feel okay”.
It’s definitely not something you will have to go and see a therapist about; it’s something you can speak to your friends or like-minded people about. Van der Stel: “I don’t expect a large influx of individual consultations with climate psychologists in future. It will be much more a case of group work within municipalities and districts and less so in a clinical setting”.
The role of the UvA
Van der Stel believes that concerns related to climate change – as is the case with other mental health issues – should be a key area of focus at the UvA. “Raise the issue with student psychologists and the student councils and look at how those concerns can be shaped in terms of education.”
Rikkert feels that although there is education about climate change it could be more solution based. “In the first six months of my programme, the message was: we can’t solve the issue of climate change. It’s like telling a medical student that patients can’t be cured.”
In addition the UvA should set a good example. Hickman: “Incorporate education on climate change into the entire curriculum, switch to a sustainable bank and stop any partnerships with the fossil fuel industry”.
Finding a healthier balance
So how are things these days? Pergher is able to keep his emotions in balance more effectively these days. “Every now and then I’m still overwhelmed by emotion, but I’m more of a believer in taking action now. I can’t afford to feel those very heavy emotions all the time – I’d go crazy.”
Rikkert also thinks there is little chance that she would fall back into a depressive episode. “I really have learned that what I do as a person has very little impact on a large scale. And if that makes me deeply unhappy, it’s just not worth it.”
The dream of a better world keeps Van der Meer going. “I’m truly convinced that there are a whole lot of people who want more to happen but don’t yet know how. So I always tell myself: you’re not alone.”
If you are suffering from climate depression or significant amount of stress related to climate change, then please seek out help and prevent any more serious symptoms such as suicidal thoughts. Please phone 0800-0113 to speak to 113 or use the chat function.
