Got climate Anxiety?

There's an antidote for that. Read on for how to turn fear and paralysis into motivation that'll help your mental health- and the planet.

-  MERYL DAVIDS LANDAU

No doubt you've had your share of middle-of-the-night wake-ups lately: Between the usual pressing work deadlines, kid drama and (oh, right!) a global pandemic that keeps resurging, anxieties are running high.

But on top of these day-to-day concerns, there's another big pot of worry simmering, and it's moving off the back burner: anxiety about climate change. “Nature always seemed like a literal rock in an otherwise crazy and unpredictable world," says Katy Romita, a 45-year-old meditation instructor in Mamaroneck, NY. While she'd been aware of climate change for a long time, it felt far away. Then last fall her neighbors lost homes, possessions and their sense of security after the ferocious Hurricane Ida struck; that brought her worries closer to home. “This was something I was used to seeing on the news, not in my own town," Katy says.

While the increase in climate-related catastrophes and calls for action will hopefully galvanize communities and countries to mitigate climate change, it may make your anxiety worse - especially if you're directly affected: After Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in 2017, researchers estimated that nearly half the city's population had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an extreme form of anxiety. Being impacted more than once can push you even further. “If you experience two 100-year floods in a few years, your capacity to cope is going to be depleted," says Christie Manning, Ph.D., director of sustainability at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN.