by Bill Sheate
Just published in PLOS Mental Health is my new paper Re-framing eco-distress for self-efficacy and resilience building. The paper proposes a re-framing of eco-distress from being framed principally as a unique set of emotional responses to the climate crisis to being one of many factors contributing to and affected by the current public mental health crisis. The emphasis can then shift from a focus on so-called ‘climate emotions’ toward building greater self-efficacy and resilience skills more generally, especially among young people, so that they are better able to cope with the multiple factors contributing to declining public mental health, including climate and environmental change….. [Read more]
by Bill Sheate
Blog 1/2
In this first of two blogs, I’m looking at the words we use to describe emotional responses to environmental and climate change, and why it might matter what we call it. In the follow-up blog I’ll look at my own approach to treating eco-anxiety.
Eco-anxiety or Eco-distress?
There is now ample evidence for the prevalence of eco-anxiety (often among young people in particular), with vigorous debate among academics as to our understanding of the relationship between observed emotional, behavioural and cognitive responses to the impacts of climate and environmental change more generally. Discussion ensues over terminology, categorisation and taxonomy of the psychology associated with climate change and what seems often to be a significant focus on ‘grief’……. [Read more]
