Teresa Pereira, doctoral researcher at CIPsi's Development and Psychopathology Laboratory was interviewed by the journalist Andréia Azevedo Soares, from PÚBLICO newspaper, for the article "Climate anxiety is a response commensurate to the dimension of the climate crisis".
"Climate anxiety is not a clinical condition", stated the CIPsi's researcher. For the researcher, masking the emotions related to climate anxiety with a "stigmatizing" and "pathological" veneer is a mistake, because climate anxiety is not a clinical condition but a response commensurate to the dimension of the climate crisis. Linking climate anxiety to a clinical condition would mean "to take responsibility away from society for a collective problem", placing the "burden" of this emotional experience only on the back of those individuals feeling eco-anxiety.
The researcher explained that eco-anxiety is very different from daily anxiety, as it is an adaptative response in which we [psychologists] are able to provide some sense of control to the person, in order to manage negative emotional responses to a given stressor. In what concerns climate change, "we are talking about something that is far beyond our individual reach. That is why it is much more difficult to provide comfort and a sense of control to the person".
Teresa Pereira is a member of EcoPsi – Psicologia e Clima, a collective that brings together psychology professionals focused on a relation between mental health and climate crisis, and coordinates the Teenager Climate Guide, a digital handbook conceived by and for young climate activists. Released in September, this free publication includes strategies to promote communication and mental health within the context of climate change.
Learn more: