How to cure eco-anxiety: the world’s on fire — but do try to chill out

More and more of us are succumbing to environmental ennui, but we all need to keep some perspective

The Sunday Times

Do you lie awake at night with a crushing sense of foreboding? Do you have a feeling of hopelessness about your future and the future of the planet? You could be suffering from “eco-anxiety” — a loosely defined but widely accepted term described by the American Psychological Association as “a chronic fear of environmental doom”.

If so, you are not alone. A study in September by Bath University found that nearly 60 per cent of young people were very worried or extremely worried about climate change. Four in ten said they were hesitant to have children. These “baby doomers” say they are worried not only by the environmental impact children might have but also fear the world they would be born into. No wonder