climate anxiety – A therapist argues that for climate-aware people, fear may be a healthy response to real destruction and slow progress—not a distorted thought pattern. The focus, she says, should shift from “what’s realistic” to “what keeps you functional” amid uncertainty.
Dear Leslie,
A lot of my work in therapy for anxiety has focused on recognizing catastrophic thinking and assessing what is more realistic. How would you suggest adapting this for a world where reality itself is increasingly becoming more catastrophic, and science suggests things will get worse in the future?
— Anonymously Anxious
Dear Anonymously Anxious,
Your question points to something I’ve had to reckon with in my own practice as a therapist. Before I became more aware of the impacts of climate change, I used the same framework you describe — I helped clients recognize their distorted thinking and recalibrate toward what’s realistic.
But as I came to understand the actual science. I had a striking realization: For climate-aware clients. their anxiety isn’t distorted at all. It’s a healthy response to real destruction and the inadequate efforts to address it. Shifting toward “what’s realistic” isn’t what we’re after to manage climate anxiety. Instead. it’s about navigating high-stakes uncertainty by developing new skills — helping people stay grounded and functional while channeling their distress into meaningful action with others.
Ask a Climate Therapist tackles your questions about how to navigate the emotional side of climate change, with leading climate-aware therapist Leslie Davenport. Have a question? Ask it here!
I think part of what you’re asking is how to distinguish a clear-eyed view of the climate crisis from catastrophizing. First, we need to understand the human tendency to catastrophize. Part of what shapes our perception of reality is something less visible than the daily news. We all have cognitive biases operating mostly beneath our conscious awareness. One in particular is relevant here: the negativity bias. which causes us to register threatening situations three to five times more intensely than positive ones. That might have been useful for our evolutionary survival. but it can also have a distorting effect — especially in the age of doomscrolling. when it’s altogether too easy to overwhelm ourselves with bad news.
That’s why a balanced view also requires staying current on the real progress being made: dam removals. renewable energy growth. youth litigation wins. communities building resilience. This kind of news often gets less attention, so finding it can take some effort. But seeking out these stories may help to remind you that there are answers to the problems we face.
Still. these advances don’t diminish the urgency of the genuine crisis we’re facing. and for now. our climate problems are still outpacing solutions. Watching that unfold, watching the status quo persist, can be agonizing. In therapy terms. the cognitive goal has to shift from “accurate assessment” to “functional clarity.” Accurate assessment asks. “How bad is it?” Functional clarity asks. “Given what I understand. what can I do?” The first question keeps you spinning while the second moves you forward. It can help you channel your emotions into motivation — to get involved with a local organization. lobby your elected officials. or change your own behavior.
Learn to distinguish between threat awareness, which is necessary and healthy, and threat rumination, which exhausts without informing. When your mind is cycling through worst-case futures with no path forward. that’s your signal to use the tools you’ve been building in therapy: Take a walk. do a breathing exercise. seek out a story about climate progress.
This is also where therapy offers something that information alone can’t. Climate anxiety lives in the body as much as the mind. Therapeutic tools (somatic practices. working through grief. reining in the runaway thoughts that keep you up at night. and building confidence to act) strengthen your capacity to stay present with the shifting climate reality without being overwhelmed by it. That’s not “coping” in the familiar sense of managing symptoms until life returns to normal. It’s developing the inner resources to keep showing up. keep caring. and keep acting with an open mind and heart. That kind of resilience makes sustained engagement possible.
In this with you,
Leslie
I’m Leslie Davenport, a licensed therapist, educator, speaker, consultant, and internationally recognized voice on the emotional and psychological dimensions of climate change. If you’ve got a question about climate and mental health, please consider submitting it for a future column.
climate anxiety catastrophizing negativity bias mental health climate change therapy somatic practices grief functional clarity
So basically anxiety is “healthy” now? Cool I guess.
I read like half of this, but it seems like the therapist is saying don’t panic?? or panic is good?? Not sure. Also how do you “stay functional” when the world is literally on fire like everyday.
Wait, I thought climate anxiety was just people being dramatic. But then they say it’s real destruction so it’s not distorted? That’s kinda confusing because my cousin told me therapy just tells you to be positive. Like, if things will get worse… what is the point of coping skills? Aren’t we just delaying the inevitable.
This sounds like therapy-speak to me. “Channel your distress into meaningful action with others” ok but like what action exactly? Because it feels like every time people do anything, companies just keep doing the same stuff. Also the headline says it isn’t broken which is weird wording like anxiety can be broken? idk. I’m more worried about how this turns into politics again, not just feelings.