“If we take the broadest sense, which is in fact the most used in the world of research, it encompasses all the unpleasant emotions potentially felt in the face of the climate emergency, not only anxiety but also anger, sadness, guilt, etc.”summarizes Ms. Jalin.
But the psychologist, who considers herself to be prone to eco-anxiety, recalls that“there is no consensus at the moment”.
“At the moment, a figure is circulating on the networks according to which there are 2.5 million eco-anxious people in France, but for me it is not supported by any scientific basis”says Ms. Jalin, who leads a therapeutic group in Nantes to learn how to “live better with eco-anxiety”.
“Eco-anxiety is not pathological in itself, it’s just a normal reaction to a situation that is problematic: climate change, very real”insists the psychologist.
“The big difference between eco-anxiety and any other form of anxiety that would be pathological is the irrational side. If you are afraid of spiders in our latitudes, it’s a little irrational compared to the reality of the danger. But is it irrational to be afraid of the future of the climate?”
“Some people find it difficult to manage this, especially those who initially are doing very well but who find themselves facing an emotional shock linked to the climate, a peak of anxiety which is rational but which they do not know how to manage because they have never experienced this”explains Hélène Jalin.
“Obsessive Side”
In some cases, this is expressed pathologically, sometimes with extreme forms called “paralysants”but Ms. Jalin assures that very often this eco-anxiety has “something positive” and becomes an engine that “moves behaviorally”.
“I met people who might no longer go out in town because everything reminded them of the coming collapse, a person who might not go out without a survival bag (…) There we can consider that it is quite irrational: the person spent a large part of his free time looking for how to filter his water”tells Mrs. Jalin.
“We arrive in more survivalist logics” car “The die-hard eco-anxious are collapsing, they really think that society as a whole and biodiversity will collapse and we will all starve to death”she says.
“I have an eco-anxious patient who spends half her night watching videos regarding it, she’s actually torturing herself. Anything recreational has become anecdotal and the subject of guilt on his part”continues the psychologist.
“There are two extremes in pathological anxiety: either paralysis or, on the contrary, the obsessive side which really takes over, with an extreme commitment to activism. I met people who were in 20 different associations and who devoted 70 hours a week of their life to working on these subjects. They came to forget themselves completely.”
“I push all my patients to move towards activism because they feel less alone and also they feel less guilty. Because eco-anxious people tend to carry all the guilt of the whole world on their shoulders when they can’t do much regarding it.”
“Getting involved on a collective level generally improves their mental health, provided they do not go towards something that is of the order of burn-out”says Ms. Jalin.
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