The alert that won't turn off

If you're genuinely worried about the planet's future, nothing's wrong with you. Psychologist Susan Clayton, who coined the term "eco-anxiety" in 2011 together with Thomas Doherty, defines it as a real, measurable psychological response to climate change — logically more intense among those already feeling its effects up close, and among young people, who'll live with its consequences the longest. It's not a fad or an exaggeration: it's your alarm system doing exactly its job.

The problem isn't feeling the alarm — it's getting stuck in it with no way out. A 2022 Yale University study of nearly 300 students found something revealing: climate anxiety only translated into depression symptoms among students who weren't involved in any collective action. Among those who joined something with other people — volunteering, local groups, organising something alongside others — that same worry stopped turning into hopelessness.

And here's the important nuance: solo individual actions (recycling, turning off lights) didn't have that same protective effect. Not because they're pointless, but because doing them alone doesn't ease the underlying feeling of facing something too big for one person. What actually helps is feeling like you're not managing that alarm by yourself.

If climate worry weighs on you, the useful question isn't "how do I stop feeling this?" — it's "who can I share the weight of feeling it with?".

If climate anxiety weighs on you, find a collective — not individual — action to join this week: the protective effect comes from doing it alongside others.