The Emotional Aspect of Environmental Education

My story

Like most environmental science majors, I chose this path because I have a passion for nature and I want to preserve it for future generations. With climate change as a pressing issue, I saw this as an opportunity to learn how to make a change.

After my first semester of pursuing this degree, I found myself very unenthusiastic to continue. I had been bombarded with information about how we are too late, and that our species has ruined the planet we live on. Politicians and corporations have the power to make the change, but individuals feel guilt and responsibility. I had seen the evidence and facts and I was convinced the only solution for sustainability was for humans to stop existing.

This had severe effects on my mental health. I felt almost no motivation to participate or apply myself in school. I became extremely anxious and depressed due to the overwhelming feeling of doom brought on by climate change.

I started sharing my feelings with fellow environmental science peers. Expressing my concern about the impact that my education was having on my mental health. That's when I realized I wasn't alone. There was a shared understanding that the information we were learning was negatively impacting our mental health, but we all thought that eventually, these feelings would turn into motivation to make a change.

Fast forward to this semester, during office hours with a professor, I was feeling overwhelmed with the subject of my writing when he suggested I read “A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety” by Sarah Jacquette Ray.

“A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety”

The book begins with the author explaining how she first noticed the emotional issues related to environmental education in her own class. She had prompted her students to envision a future where all efforts had paid off to eliminate the issue of climate change. The exercise failed because students were unable to visualize a changed future or even a path to one.

Our generation has grown up in an age where we’ve become desensitized because we are constantly exposed to fear and violence in the media. Issues like climate change have been politicized and we haven’t seen much progress toward a more sustainable future. All of these things have led to our generation lacking motivation and desire, and overwhelming feelings of fear, guilt, and anger that have consumed us.

“The Field Guide to Climate Anxiety” identifies and explains emotional states relating to climate change and how we can use them to redirect our energy to make positive change.

Climate anxiety

Climate anxiety is not a mental illness but rather a state of anxiety stemming from the fear or distress from the negative effects of climate change. This often leads to feelings of anger, guilt, and sadness, which in turn impacts moods, behaviors, and decisions.

Solastalgia

This can be described as the existential and physiological state experienced when one’s environment undergoes drastic changes or disturbances. Things like natural disasters, and deforestation can induce this emotional state.

Eco-grief

Eco-grief is the feeling of loss or mourning, caused by learning about environmental degradation or the anticipation of the effects of climate change.

Recognizing these emotional states is the first step to managing them. Practicing mindfulness is one way to do this. Acknowledge how you feel, identify what is causing that emotion, and then figure out how to deal with it. Focusing on the cause rather than the emotion itself allows for acceptance and then counteraction.

In education, being mindful of the emotional impact of climate change and environmental education is useful to both students and teachers. It starts with educators being aware of the way content affects them mentally. Then taking the response of students into consideration, they can adapt their content to be relatable and also highlight positive aspects.

For students, practicing mindfulness helps navigate one's emotions and guide decision-making. This is particularly useful when feeling overwhelmed by your emotions. Environmental education can be depressing and leave you feeling helpless. Allowing yourself to acknowledge and process those emotions leads to acceptance. Then you are better equipped to focus your energy on something that is productive toward change.

Using the skills that A field guide to Climate anxiety has given me, I feel like I am better at managing my emotional response to climate change and the associated issues. Its also been especially helpful in processing and coping with being affected by natural disasters. I am better at recognizing my emotions and even have new labels to describe them.