It is undeniable that climate change is wreaking havoc with our mental health. Children and young adults are suffering most acutely. An international survey polled more than 10,000 young adults and teenage students and found over 45% are feeling overwhelmed and hopeless about climate change to the point of interfering with daily life. This same study reports increased distress due to what they perceive as the failure of governments to act against the climate crisis. In other words, teens and young adults are feeling abandoned and invalidated. Fearing they will inherit a global crisis they did not create. Mental health providers, educators and environmentalists are considering the best course of action to mitigate climate anxiety across the globe and how to create ecological stewardship in the process. We cannot stop climate change, but we can act to adapt. Could anxiety mitigation result by means of adaptation? And what steps do you take to create a “climate adaptation plan”? Horticultural therapy could be a big part of the answer.
Anxiety: Healthy Response or Debilitating Disorder?
According to the APA, “Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure. Anxiety is not the same as fear, but they are often used interchangeably. Anxiety is considered a future-oriented, long-acting response broadly focused on a diffuse threat.” It is often thought of as a negative emotion, but for many of us anxiety has benefits. It helps us act, enhance performance, and recognize threats. Learning how to manage anxiety can keep us from spiraling into distress.
“Anxiety in the face of climate change is a health response to a real threat.”
Elizabeth Plinsky, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
Climate anxiety is presenting an unusual challenge for mental health providers. Humans have not faced this kind of broad existential threat before. Lise Van Susteren, a forensic psychologist in Washington DC who specializes in mental health effects of climate change describes this developing disorder as, “a type of pre-traumatic stress disorder, with few existing precedents in the United States apart from fears of nuclear annihilation and the decades-ago experience of living through classroom drills on how to survive an atom bomb attack.” Historically, talk therapy has been a very successful treatment option in reducing certain types of anxiety. It uses an approach of developing coping skills for irrational thoughts or “cognitive distortion”. The challenge with climate change is that it is a real and growing threat that is producing much uncertainty. Therapists are finding talk therapy, although helpful in the short term, is not sustainable.
Root Cause of Climate Anxiety
It is understood that climate anxiety is a human response to the uncertainty around the potential risk of catastrophic environmental events and the effect on human life. It is compounded by the perception that we have little control over the climate crisis. One individual cannot stop the devastating floods, or wildfires occurring across the globe. It is this overwhelming threat and our inability to control it that is driving personal climate anxiety.
Recent research suggests a well-known approach may be effective in reducing the grip of climate anxiety. Engaging in meaningful actions helps to empower individuals. Through this empowerment we experience anxiety reduction. An example of this approach can be found in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when societal anxiety was extremely high. We had the advantage of knowing how a virus spreads and how we could protect ourselves. In this situation, a positive action plan was designed and implemented. Wear a mask in public, socially distance and get vaccinated. The adaptation of these measures into daily life puts the individual into a position of gaining personal control. Of course, the COVID virus was not eradicated by this course of action. Wearing a mask did not award immunity, but life did return to normal due in large part to the collective meaningful actions taken by many individuals.
Creating Resilience through Meaningful Action
We cannot stop climate change from happening, but that does not mean there is no hope for the future. Climate awareness training is becoming more accessible to mental health providers and students across the nation. One association that is gaining attention is The Climate Psychology Alliance-North America. CPA-NA is a non-profit run by professionals in the mental health and psychology fields. Their mission is “to address the urgent psychological dimensions of the climate and ecological crisis and promote cultural shifts toward human resilience, regeneration and equity”. CPA-NA is a self-described hub for climate psychology in the US and Canada. They offer training for mental health providers both in-person and virtually. The website provides definitions of climate aware terms and a list of climate aware therapists in each state. This could be a valuable resource for HT’s who are inclined to offer programming around climate anxiety and climate awareness.
According to the CPA-NA the best approach is not to solve this problem but to acknowledge anxiety as a healthy response to the situation. Climate aware therapists do not treat climate anxiety as a disorder. Rather the client is encouraged to explore the interconnectedness of humanity with the environment. As we know, this view is foundational within the practice of horticultural therapy. Once the client’s anxiety is acknowledged and accepted as a healthy response, which can include working through a period of grief related to environmental loss, the next step is to take meaningful action. Sustainable action is the key to success. Certainly, joining a national organization that promotes climate awareness, or becoming involved in a climate forward task force is admirable. But sustainable empowerment comes from implementing simple actions into daily life. Think globally, act locally. Reduce, reuse, repair, recycle is an action that enables personal control over anxiety. Another powerful and sustainable action-connection to the Earth.
Horticultural Therapy as a Climate Adaptation Plan
As horticultural therapists we hold a unique position. In context of a climate adaptation plan, cultivating plants is an evidence-based intervention that supports resiliency in both the gardener and the local ecosystem. This is very important when considering the inequities surrounding access to mental health services. A community-based wellness program utilizing horticultural therapy could reach many people in all walks of life. A specifically focused HT program can empower those who wish to take personal control of their climate anxiety. The simple act of planting seeds, curating a garden, and participating in the harvest are profoundly enriching and meaningful experiences. These actions connect us to the Earth and enable us to support life in many forms. Sharing these experiences with others creates hope and curtails isolation. Gardening is affordable, accessible, and enabling for anyone willing to dig their hands into the soil. An HT program focused on restoring biodiversity can easily be accomplished by using native plants and seed in interventions. The potential to foster environmental stewardship with this approach is immense. The challenge of course is to educate climate aware therapists and community members on the science behind horticultural therapy and the unique benefits of HT interventions.
We cannot halt climate change. But we should not surrender to hopelessness. Adaptation is the most likely and best path forward. Finding ways to adapt to intense weather events, warming temperatures and an uncertain future will be a challenge for all. Horticultural therapy is in the unique position to provide meaningful action, that will quell climate anxiety and create environmental stewardship. Collaboration with climate aware mental health providers may be the vehicle to propel horticultural therapy into the national spotlight where it will be recognized for its healing potential, both human and ecological.
