Helping youth cope with climate fear

Tashi Farmilo

Eco-anxiety, the growing emotional response to climate change, is becoming a defining mental health challenge for today’s youth. Increasingly, young people report feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and helpless in the face of environmental degradation and political inaction. In response to this rising concern, the local non-profit Enviro-Éduc-Action has launched a targeted workshop aimed at helping parents and educators better understand the phenomenon and support youth in transforming anxiety into constructive engagement.

The initiative, titled “Eco-Anxiety in Our Youth: Understanding It to Better Support Them,” draws on years of direct engagement with youth through regional programs such as C-Vert, Génér’Action Climat, and Écoles Écocitoyennes. These efforts have consistently surfaced climate distress as a common and deepening experience among adolescents and young adults in the Outaouais.

This educational push culminates in a public conference on February 12 from 6:30 - 8:00 pm at the Donalda-Charron Library in Aylmer. Free and open to the public, the 90-minute session is designed to equip adults with tools to respond empathetically to the mental health impacts of climate-related stress, and to encourage age-appropriate environmental action.

Recent data underscores the urgency. A 2021 Léger poll revealed that nearly three-quarters of Quebecers aged 18 to 34 experience eco-anxiety. Globally, a study published in The Lancet that same year found that 59% of youth aged 16 to 25 were very or extremely worried about climate change, with 45% reporting that their anxiety disrupted their daily lives. Symptoms include sleep disturbances, concentration difficulties, and social withdrawal, often coupled with a bleak outlook on the future.

Rather than pathologizing these feelings, Enviro-Éduc-Action frames eco-anxiety as a rational response to real-world conditions—one that can be channeled into meaningful environmental participation. Their workshop provides adults with practical resources: emotional literacy tools, active listening strategies, critical thinking exercises related to media, and examples of positive youth-led climate actions. A core message is that understanding and validating these emotions is the first step toward resilience and agency.

The session also tackles the role of misinformation and alarmism, which can amplify feelings of fear and powerlessness. Participants will learn how to help youth identify reliable sources, put news into context, and avoid sensationalist narratives that hinder engagement.

While the February 12 session is a flagship event, it is part of a broader regional rollout. Additional parent-focused sessions are planned for the spring, and schools or community organizations can request tailored training through May.

Registration for the February session is available via the City of Gatineau’s online portal:

https://cultureloisirs.gatineau.ca