Taking control: Action against eco-anxiety

MacEwan Sustainability
Mar 31
4 min read

Updated: Apr 1

Your best friend sends you several frantic messages. It’s full of typos and very out of character for them…

They tell you that they can’t concentrate or finish their homework because it makes their heart race. They’re feeling really anxious and everything is too overwhelming. There’s too much work to get through and they just feel like trying to get it all done is making them feel worse.

You understand their dread. Your hands have also shaken over your keyboard, paralyzed by the cold clamp of fear in your chest. It makes no sense, but it's your reality all the same.

You don’t know what to say to your friend... How do you help them?

They aren’t in class the next day. You message them and get a response that they’re still in bed. They don’t want to deal with your teacher and ask you to tell her that they’re sick.

This excuse worked a couple times before, but now your teacher is annoyed and mutters a comment about lazy students.

But you know your friend. They aren’t lazy. Something is wrong and you want to help. While you aren’t a doctor, you think there are some ways you can still support your friend.

You start taking action…

Mental Health and Climate Change

Anxiety isn’t a new health concern, and students are no stranger to it. We know how important it is to support those dealing with regular anxiety. We help them find mental health resources or suggest an appointment with a counsellor or a drop-in session with MacEwan’s Peer Support team.

But have you ever caught yourself feeling a similar way when someone brings up climate change?

If so, you aren’t alone.

Does the idea of climate change scare you to the point that you don’t even want to think about it?

This extreme worry and avoidance is something called eco-anxiety, and it stems from worry about the current and future harm to the environment caused by human activity and climate change.

Some people want to alleviate their anxiety and engage in activities that improve the environment, while others shy away from dealing with the fear it triggers in their gut and leave it to others to solve, feeling helpless and small…

Like regular anxiety, we can also take action to alleviate eco-anxiety.

We are not powerless.

We can begin to deal with Eco-anxiety by understanding it a bit more. The idea of eco-anxiety has been around since 2007, and scientists are just beginning to learn the impacts of it.

Many people begin experiencing eco-anxiety after being affected by natural disasters, such as wildfires or severe floods. The devastating wildfire of Jasper in 2024, or the astonishing 2013 floods in Calgary are local examples of how human lives can be impacted by environmental disasters.

5 actions you can take today!

1. Acknowledge your feelings.

It’s normal to experience worry about the future, so don’t feel that you should suppress your feelings.

2. Focus on what you can control.

There are a lot of bigger, complicated issues around climate change, but you can still make a difference with your daily actions. Walk or bike to school. Purchase a reusable cup and use it on campus. Did you know you also get a little bit of a discount when you use a reusable cup?

3. Reach out and talk to others.

Having a supportive community of like-minded people can help you talk out your concerns, and even help you come up with coping strategies and action plans.

We will always suggest seeking out appropriate professionals for proper mental health treatment, such as Peer Support and Counsellors here on campus. But for more general questions or concerns, the sustainability department is happy to answer questions where we can!

4. Get outside and connect to nature

Get out and go for a walk. Notice the trees. Do you hear many birds? Listen to the sound of the ground under your shoes. Getting outside into nature is shown to decrease stress and boosts our mood.

Doing small exercises like asking yourself what you’re experiencing is a powerful technique for grounding your mind back into the present and helping to calm panic attacks. Engage your senses.

Ask: What do I see and hear? What can I touch or taste? What can I smell?

5. Seek knowledge

Look up reputable resources of climate science. Arming yourself with knowledge will help you better understand the messages coming at us in the media. For example, news stories often take on a doom and gloom approach because it makes for dramatic stories but remember that there are successful climate stories out there.

To quote a piece from Earth.org, “In a historic achievement for the European Union, wind and solar sources accounted for 30% of its electricity generation in the first half of 2024, surpassing fossil fuels, which contributed 27%”(source). This is a huge win for the planet!