Episode guests

John Aruta | Associate professor of psychology at De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines

Skye Barrow | Student at University of Oregon, youth experiencing climate anxiety

Thomas Doherty | Psychologist who addresses climate anxiety, based in Portland, Oregon

Ayomide Olude | The Eco-Anxiety Africa Project project manager

Resources

TEAP - The Eco-Anxiety Africa Project, including the TEAP Eco-Anxiety Survey

The Climate Emotions Wheel based on research by Panu Pihkala and the Climate Mental Health Network

More resources from the Climate Mental Health Network

Climate anxiety study published in The Lancet Planetary Health

Good Grief Network: 10 Steps to Resilience & Empowerment in a Chaotic Climate

Gen Dread Newsletter

Yale Experts Explain Climate Anxiety

Thomas Doherty’s climate anxiety podcast, Climate Change and Happiness

episode summary

In this episode of Climate Decoded, we unpack climate anxiety. Climate anxiety is one common term, but there are a lot of different names — ecological grief, eco-anxiety, solastalgia.

The effect climate change has on your emotions varies based on a lot of factors. Your age, your income, any risks you’re facing — all that makes a difference. Climate justice — or rather, injustice — also plays a role. Global North countries produce the vast majority of carbon emissions, but Global South countries often suffer the most severe impacts of climate change.

John Aruta, an associate professor of psychology at De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines, offers perspective as a psychology researcher in one of the countries hardest hit by both climate and climate anxiety. He also explains how the language used to talk about climate anxiety can make or break the support people can get. Skye Barrow speaks as a young person with both general anxiety and climate anxiety finding hope through action. Ayomide Olude, project manager of the Nigeria-based Eco-Anxiety Africa Project, explores some of the many emotions that can stem from eco-anxiety, as well as some of the big-picture changes needed to tackle climate anxiety. And Thomas Doherty, an Oregon-based psychologist, breaks down actionable techniques for working through climate anxiety.