How is climate change affecting our mental health?

Some worries in our lives are not easily pointed out and instead linger in the background of our everyday experiences. Climate change has become one of them for many of us. Whether we are stressed by the headlines we see, unsure about what to do about it, or burned out by the inaction we feel in the world, climate change’s effects extend beyond the environmental and physical and also affect our mental health. In this therapy sketch, we will go over the potential effects of climate change on our mental health and ways we can work with them.

Climate change and its common effects

Climate change is a global health challenge that includes extreme weather events and climate-related events (e.g., floods and wildfires), as well as slower environmental changes like rising temperatures and sea levels. Effects of climate change include hotter temperatures, more severe weather conditions, loss of species, as well as other economic and social impacts.

Most often, conversations about climate change’s effects on our health focus on physical health, such as its impact through heat, air quality, changing disease patterns, and extreme weather. However, climate change can also affect our mental health.

For example, it can affect us directly through exposure to severe weather events like droughts and floods, which can feel overwhelming and even traumatizing in the body. It can also show up more indirectly through broader social, political, and economic pressures. And for many of us, existing mental health, financial, and social struggles can make these effects feel even more pronounced.

Climate change creates a variety of emotional and physical responses in us. Our understanding and perception of it can lead to anxiety, fear, stress, and a sense of overwhelm, shaped by uncertainty, ongoing change, constant threat monitoring, and the feeling of facing a problem that requires large-scale collective action.

Eco-anxiety and ecological grief

Eco-anxiety, also called climate anxiety, is a term that has become increasingly common as more of us find ourselves worrying about the future of our planet and what we can do about it. Eco-anxiety is a term used to describe ongoing worry or stress about climate change and its effects on the environment.

Feelings of anxiety are often natural reactions to threats we perceive in our world, helping to activate us to take action and protect ourselves. Similarly, eco-anxiety is not a disorder in itself. It is a natural response to real problems. But when these feelings become more constant and begin to affect our daily lives, relationships, and overall quality of life, it may be helpful to connect with sources of support and care.

Eco-anxiety can feel like:

• Worrying about climate change
• Fear about the future
• Feelings of helplessness
• Rumination about environmental decline

A similar term, “ecological grief,” refers to the deep sense of grief that can arise in response to environmental loss. For example, people may experience:

• Sadness
• Tearfulness
• Anger or irritability
• Guilt or regret
• Feeling emotionally flat or empty
• Overwhelm and loneliness

These experiences may also involve changes in thoughts and beliefs, such as persistent thinking about ecological events and losses, or difficulty imagining the future. They can also affect the body and daily routines, including reduced energy and motivation, sleep problems, and changes in appetite.

Feelings of identity and culture loss

As climate change disrupts our environment, it can also feel like an identity and cultural loss because of its impact on the traditions, occupations, places, and communities that shape our sense of self. It can create feelings of sadness, grief, and loss as we anticipate changes to the people, places, and ways of life that are meaningful to us. When familiar landscapes, cultural practices, or communities change or disappear, it can feel as though something central to our memories, identity, and sense of belonging is being lost.

Advocacy, social action, and burnout

Climate change can also lead to burnout, especially for those of us who actively engage in environmental work, advocacy, and community and social action. Engaging in such advocacy work often requires working under demanding conditions with limited or nonexistent budgets and resources, and the change we invest in can be slow and met with resistance. 

Similarly, many of us can feel burned out by the pressure to stay informed and take action, yet can’t find a meaningful way to express this need in the external world. Feeling this level of responsibility yet unable to engage in social action can also leave us feeling frustrated, hopeless, and guilty.

These feelings are totally valid and natural responses to actual changes we experience in our modern world. Yet sometimes it can feel like an emotional and physical burden, creating a need for extensive care and support. This does not mean that the social action is not meaningful or that feelings of responsibility should be avoided, but rather it highlights the importance of balancing action with rest, support, and sustainable ways of engaging with causes we care about.

How can therapy help?

Therapy can help us:

• Develop psychological flexibility, resilience, and adaptive ways of coping with uncertainty and change
• Reduce unnecessary suffering while making space for the very real emotions that climate distress can evoke
• Clarify our values and support meaningful action that is aligned with what matters most to us
• Process and work through feelings of anxiety, grief, helplessness, sadness, or overwhelm
• Find meaningful and sustainable ways to express our connection to nature, community, and social responsibility

Can therapy and social change coexist?

When we are concerned about social issues, including climate change, individual therapy can sometimes feel contradictory to the kinds of collective solutions and systemic changes we believe are necessary. For example, some of us may worry that therapy will frame our meaningful stress, anxiety, or burnout as purely personal issues, and that our therapist will not recognize the social causes of our struggles, such as poverty, discrimination, or, in this case, climate change. Similarly, especially if we are actively involved in community and social action, we may worry that therapy would take away the very feelings that fuel our activism, and that we would involuntarily become adapted to conditions we want to keep challenging.

These concerns are valid, and unfortunately, some of us might have actually experienced therapy in this way, because therapy is not a unified or singular thing that we receive. However, these types of negative associations are not inherent to therapy itself, but rather to how therapy is practiced. That is why, eventhough they are not necessarily true, they can still create a barrier to seeking the care we need for ourselves, or even leave us feeling guilty or like a fraud, as though we are shifting attention away from larger systemic problems.

When therapy integrates systemic and relational-cultural perspectives and includes an authentic therapeutic relationship where clients can openly voice and challenge such concerns, it can feel more empowering and aligned with what feels socially meaningful, rather than in conflict with it. 

Takeaways

• Climate change can affect our mental health directly and indirectly through extreme weather, environmental changes, and ongoing uncertainty that can create stress, anxiety, and overwhelm.
• Eco-anxiety describes ongoing worry about climate change, while ecological grief refers to emotional responses to environmental loss, including sadness, anger, helplessness, and difficulty imagining the future.
• Climate change can create a sense of identity and cultural loss as familiar places, traditions, and communities change or disappear, affecting our sense of belonging and self.
• Engaging in climate advocacy can lead to burnout due to emotional strain, limited resources, slow progress, and the pressure to stay constantly engaged and informed.
• Therapy can support emotional processing, resilience, and values-based action while helping reduce distress and build more sustainable ways of coping with climate-related challenges.
• Therapy and social change can coexist when therapy recognizes systemic causes of distress and provides space to integrate personal healing with broader social and environmental awareness.

References & further reading

• Burrows, K., Denckla, C. A., Hahn, J., Schiff, J. E., Okuzono, S. S., Randriamady, H., Mita, C., Kubzansky, L. D., Koenen, K. C., & Lowe, S. R. (2024). A systematic review of the effects of chronic, slow-onset climate change on mental health. Nature Mental Health, 2(2), 228–243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-023-00170-5
• Charlson, F., Ali, S., Benmarhnia, T., Pearl, M., Massazza, A., Augustinavicius, J., & Scott, J. G. (2021). Climate Change and Mental Health: A scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(9), 4486. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094486
• Gunasiri, H., Lawrance, E. L., Menssink, J. M., Patrick, R., Wilson, C., Gresham, B., McGorry, P. D., & Gao, C. X. (2026). Therapeutic strategies to manage climate distress among young people. The Lancet Planetary Health, 101470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanplh.2026.101470
• Lawrance, E. L., Thompson, R., Vay, J. N. L., Page, L., & Jennings, N. (2022). The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing: A Narrative Review of Current Evidence, and its Implications. International Review of Psychiatry, 34(5), 443–498. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2022.2128725
• Trost, K., Ertl, V., König, J., Rosner, R., & Comtesse, H. (2024). Climate change-related concerns in psychotherapy: therapists’ experiences and views on addressing this topic in therapy. BMC Psychology, 12(1), 192. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01677-x

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At Roamers Therapy, our psychotherapists are here to support you through anxiety, depression, trauma and relationship issues, race-ethnicity issues, LGBTQIA+ issues, ADHD, Autism, or any challenges you encounter. Our psychotherapists are trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Acceptance, and Commitment Therapy, Person-Centered Therapy, and Gottman Therapy. 

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This page is also part of the Roamers Therapy Glossary; a collection of mental-health related definitions that are written by our therapists.

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