Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T18:25:01.644Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 2 - Definitions and Conceptualizations of Climate Distress

An International Perspective

from Part I - Conceptual Foundations of Climate Distress in Young People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2024

By
Panu Pihkala
Edited by
Elizabeth Haase  and
Kelsey Hudson
Elizabeth Haase
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Reno
Kelsey Hudson
Affiliation:
Climate Psychology Alliance North America
Get access

Summary

This chapter analyzes the concept of distress and its application into climate matters. Distress emerges as a broad concept with many connotations. There are so many similarities between climate distress and climate anxiety as broad concepts that they may be used almost interchangeably, but when these phenomena are more carefully scrutinized, a wide vocabulary of various mental states and emotions is required. The history of the usage of climate distress is provided. The role of power dynamics in the usages is explored. Contextual factors are discussed, especially in relation to various cultures and languages. Related dynamics are explored via the example of discourses about climate distress in Finland and Sweden. It is argued that care is needed in analyzing the usage of concepts by various authors. The dual character of climate distress as both a potential mental health issue and fundamentally an adaptive reaction is highlighted.

Keywords

eco-anxietyclimate anxietyclimate distressworrygriefstressclimate changeyouthlanguagephilosophy
Type
Chapter
Information
Climate Change and Youth Mental Health
Multidisciplinary Perspectives
 , pp. 21 - 39
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albrecht, G. (2019). Earth emotions: New words for a new world. Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Albrecht, G., Sartore, G.-M., Connor, L., Higginbotham, N., Freeman, S., Kelly, B., … Pollard, G. (2007). Solastalgia: The distress caused by environmental change. Australasian Psychiatry: Bulletin of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, 15(S1), S95–S98. https://doi.org/10.1080/10398560701701288CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barlow, D. H. (2004). Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Barnwell, G., Stroud, L., & Watson, M. (2020). Critical reflections from South Africa: Using the Power Threat Meaning Framework to place climate-related distress in its socio-political context. Clinical Psychology Forum, 332 (August), 7–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berglund, K. (2019). There is no alternative: A symbolic interactionist account of Swedish climate activists. Vol. Master’s thesis [Lund University, Department of Sociology]. http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8990902/file/8990903.pdfGoogle Scholar
Bronswijk, K. van, & Hausmann, C. M. (2022). Climate emotions: Klimakrise und psychische Gesundheit. Psychosozial-Verlag. www.beck-shop.de/hausmann-bronswijk-climate-emotions/product/34000720CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Budziszewska, M., & Kałwak, W. (2022). Climate depression. Critical analysis of the concept. Psychiatria Polska, 56(1), 171–182. https://doi.org/10.12740/PP/127900CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clayton, S. (2020). Climate anxiety: Psychological responses to climate change. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 74, 102263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102263CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clayton, S., & Karazsia, B. T. (2020). Development and validation of a measure of climate change anxiety. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 69, 101434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101434CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clayton, S., Manning, C. M., Krygsman, K., & Speiser, M. (2017). Mental health and our changing climate: Impacts, implications, and guidance. APA & EcoAmerica.Google Scholar
Coffey, Y., Bhullar, N., Durkin, J., Islam, M. S., & Usher, K. (2021). Understanding eco-anxiety: A systematic scoping review of current literature and identified knowledge gaps. Journal of Climate Change and Health, 3, 100047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2021.100047CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comtesse, H., Ertl, V., Hengst, S. M. C., Rosner, R., & Smid, G. E. (2021). Ecological grief as a response to environmental change: A mental health risk or functional response? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(2), 734. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020734CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cunsolo, A., Harper, S. L., Minor, K., Hayes, K., Williams, K. G., & Howard, C. (2020). Ecological grief and anxiety: The start of a healthy response to climate change? The Lancet Planetary Health, 4(7), e261–e263. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30144-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cunsolo Willox, A., & Ellis, N. R. (2018). Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss. Nature Climate Change, 8(4), 275–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunsolo Willox, A., & Landman, K. (Eds.) (2017). Mourning nature: Hope at the heart of ecological loss & grief. McGill-Queen’s University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daniel-Watanabe, L., & Fletcher, P. (2022). Are fear and anxiety truly distinct? Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science, 2(4), 341–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drapeau, A., Marchand, A., & Beaulieu-Prévost, D. (2011). Epidemiology of psychological distress. In L’Abate, L. (Ed.), Mental illnesses – Understanding, prediction and control (pp. 105–133). InTech.Google Scholar
Helm, S. V., Pollitt, A., Barnett, M. A., Curran, M. A., & Craig, Z. R. (2018). Differentiating environmental concern in the context of psychological adaption to climate change. Global Environmental Change, 48, 158–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.11.012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hepp, J., Klein, S. A., Horsten, L., Urbild, J., & Lane, S. P. (2022). The climate change distress and impairment scale: Introduction of the measure and first findings on pro-environmental behavior. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/j6pbuGoogle Scholar
Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, R. E., Mayall, E. E., … Susteren, L. van (2021). Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: A global survey. The Lancet Planetary Health, 5(12), e863–e873. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00278-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higginbotham, N., Connor, L., Albrecht, G., Freeman, S., & Agho, K. (2006). Validation of an environmental distress scale. EcoHealth, 3, 245–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogg, T. L., Stanley, S. K., O’Brien, L. V., Wilson, M. S., & Watsford, C. R. (2021). The Hogg Eco-Anxiety Scale: Development and validation of a multidimensional scale. Global Environmental Change, 71, 102391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102391CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoggett, P. (2019). Climate psychology: On indifference to disaster. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11741-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horwitz, A. V. (2007). Distinguishing distress from disorder as psychological outcomes of stressful social arrangements. Health, 11(3), 273–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363459307077541CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hyry, J. (2019). Kansalaiskysely ilmastonmuutoksesta ja tunteista [National survey on climate change and emotions]. Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund. https://media.sitra.fi/2019/08/21153439/ilmastotunteet-2019-kyselytutkimuksen-tulokset.pdf & https://media.sitra.fi/2019/11/29131052/sitraclimate-emotions-report-2019.pdfGoogle Scholar
Kurth, C. (2018). The anxious mind: An investigation into the varieties and virtues of anxiety. MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kurth, C., & Pihkala, P. (2022). Eco-anxiety: What it is and why it matters. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.981814Google ScholarPubMed
Lawton, G. (2019). I have eco-anxiety but that’s normal. New Scientist, 244(3251), 22. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0262-4079(19)31914-1Google Scholar
LeDoux, J. (2016). Anxious: Using the brain to understand and treat fear and anxiety. Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Mayes, E., & Hartup, M. E. (2022). News coverage of the School Strike for Climate movement in Australia: The politics of representing young strikers’ emotions. Journal of Youth Studies, 25(7), 994–1016. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2021.1929887CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moser, S. C. (2019). Not for the faint of heart: Tasks of climate change communication in the context of societal transformation. In Feola, G., Geoghegan, H., & Arnall, A. (Eds.), Climate and culture: Multidisciplinary perspectives of knowing, being and doing in a climate change world (pp. 141–167). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, D. L., & Simmons, B. L. (2003). Eustress: An elusive construct, an engaging pursuit. In Perrewe, P. L. & Ganster, D. C. (Eds.), Emotional and physiological processes and positive intervention strategies (Vol. 3, pp. 265–322). Emerald Group. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3555(03)03007-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ojala, M. (2007). Hope and worry: Exploring young people’s values, emotions, and behavior regarding global environmental problems. Örebro University, Universitetsbiblioteket.Google Scholar
Ojala, M., Cunsolo, A., Ogunbode, C. A., & Middleton, J. (2021). Anxiety, worry, and grief in a time of environmental and climate crisis: A narrative review. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 46(1). https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-022716CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, M. R. (2009). Is distress a symptom of mental disorders, a marker of impairment, both or neither? World Psychiatry, 8(2), 91–92.Google ScholarPubMed
Pihkala, P. (2019). Eco-anxiety and hope (a blog by Panu Pihkala). https://ecoanxietyandhope.blogspot.com/2019/11/eco-anxiety-in-finland-tale-of-national.htmlGoogle Scholar
Pihkala, P. (2020a). Anxiety and the ecological crisis: An analysis of eco-anxiety and climate anxiety. Sustainability, 12(19), 7836. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12197836CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pihkala, P. (2020b). Eco-anxiety and environmental education. Sustainability, 12(23), 10149. https://doi.org/10.3390/su122310149CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pihkala, P. (2022a). Commentary: Three tasks for eco‐anxiety research – a commentary on Thompson et al. (2021). Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 27(1), 92–93. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12529CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pihkala, P. (2022b). Toward a taxonomy of climate emotions. Frontiers in Climate, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.738154CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prager, D. (2019). If you can’t sell your hysteria to adults, try kids. National Review, 24, 9. www.nationalreview.com/2019/09/american-left-climate-change-hysteria-kids/Google Scholar
Randall, R. (2019). Climate anxiety or climate distress? Coping with the pain of the climate emergency. Online Discussion Forum/Blogs. https://rorandall.org/2019/10/19/climate-anxiety-or-climate-distress-coping-with-the-pain-of-the-climate-emergency/Google Scholar
Rieken, B., Popp, R., & Raile, P. (2021). Eco-anxiety – Zukunftsangst und Klimawandel: Interdisziplinäre Zugänge (1st ed.). Waxmann.Google Scholar
Rintala, H. (2022). Support for distress associated with climate change in Finland – “The mind of eco-anxiety.” Climate Adapt (EU). https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/metadata/case-studies/support-for-distress-associated-with-climate-change-in-finland-2013-201cthe-mind-of-eco-anxiety201dGoogle Scholar
Sangervo, J., Jylhä, K. M., & Pihkala, P. (2022). Climate anxiety: Conceptual considerations, and connections with climate hope and action. Global Environmental Change, 76, 102569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102569CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solomon, R. C. (2004). On grief and gratitude. In Solomon, R. C. (Ed.), In defense of sentimentality (pp. 75–107). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/019514550X.003.0004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, A. E. (2021). Psychometric properties of the Climate Change Worry Scale. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(2), 494. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020494CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thunberg, G., Thunberg, S., Ernman, M., & Ernman, B. (2020). Our house is on fire: Scenes of a family and a planet in crisis. Penguin Random House.Google Scholar
Uchendu, J. O. (2022). Eco-anxiety and its divergent power holds: A youth climate activist’s perspective. South African Journal of Psychology, 52(4), 545–547. https://doi.org/10.1177/00812463221130586CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Linden, S. (2017). Determinants and measurement of climate change risk perception, worry, and concern. In Nisbet, M. C., Ho, S. S., Markowitz, E., O’Neill, S., Schäfer, M. S., & Thaker, J. (Eds.), The Oxford encyclopedia of climate change communication. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Vergunst, F., & Berry, H. L. (2021). Climate change and children’s mental health: A developmental perspective. Clinical Psychological Science, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026211040787Google ScholarPubMed
Verlie, B. (2022). Learning to live with climate change: From anxiety to transformation. Routledge.Google Scholar
Verplanken, B., Marks, E., & Dobromir, A. I. (2020). On the nature of eco-anxiety: How constructive or unconstructive is habitual worry about global warming? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 72, 101528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101528CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wardell, S. (2020). Naming and framing ecological distress. Medicine Anthropology Theory, 7(2), 187–201. https://doi.org/10/17157/mat.7.2.769CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wullenkord, M., Tröger, J., Hamann, K., Loy, L., & Reese, G. (2021). Anxiety and climate change: A validation of the Climate Anxiety Scale in a German-speaking quota sample and an investigation of psychological correlates. Climatic Change, 168(20). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03234-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×