Eco-Anxiety: Not a Mental Illness

Facing Facts
by Sarah Anne Edwards, PhD

Thirty-six percent of the U.S. population worries “a great deal” about global warming, according to a recent Gallup poll.
Another 26 percent worry “a fair amount.”
When asked what will be “the most important problem facing our nation 25 years from now,” Gallup respondents listed the environment third, just behind “a lack of energy sources” and Social Security, and way ahead of terrorism, education, unemployment, race relations, and the budget deficit.
All these folks are not mentally ill. They are awake to real concerns that are only now beginning to pinch our pocket-books and erode the comforts and conveniences of daily we've come to take for granted. They are the tip of an iceberg of folks who will be facing life-changing challenges that health care professionals and spiritual leaders need to be prepared to help them address.