Health Experts Warn of Rising ‘Eco-Anxiety’ Among Children

A spate of articles in recent weeks chronicle a startling rise in “eco-anxiety” among children, defined by the American Psychological Association as “a chronic fear of environmental doom” from climate change.

An “intense fear over the planet’s future” is “an increasingly common phenomenon among children and teenagers,” declared the BBC on April 22, a phenomenon stemming from constant exposure to predictions of possible catastrophic consequences from global climate change.

“Eco-anxiety can be caused by the stressful and frightening experience of watching the slow and seemingly irrevocable impacts of climate change unfold, and worrying about the future for oneself, children and later generations,” the BBC said, citing a report published by environmental organizations.

Boston-based GBH News has warned of a “second pandemic” of eco-anxiety among young people, asserting that the “menacing shadow” of climate change and governments’ failure to take action to fix it “is taking a mental toll” on children.

Many observers “predict climate change’s effects will mirror the pandemic and the unfair toll it took on communities of color,” the article asserts. – READ MORE