Eco anxiety is no longer just a buzzword, it reflects the deeply psychological impact of the unfolding climate crisis. As the effects of climate change go beyond the physical and environmental, award-winning clinical psychologist Sachin Jain, with over 22 years of experience, shares how our connection to nature shapes our mental well-being, especially in young people. His insights emphasise a powerful truth: by understanding our relationship with the environment, we can better care for both the planet and ourselves.
Sachin Jain begins with a simple but profound observation. “I believe that an individual or human being is connected with their surroundings, they sense what is happening in their environments.” This connection means that environmental degradation, rising temperatures, polluted air, vanishing green spaces isn’t just a backdrop to our lives. They are part of our internal landscape, often triggering eco anxiety, environmental stress, or a sense of unease.
“Every being wants to live, and when they see an unfavourable change or threat happening, it becomes a stressor or results in anxiety,” he explains. Whether it’s drought, smog, or erratic weather, these shifts in the natural world act like silent stressors.
Over time, these climate change induced stressors impact the way we function, especially mentally.
How Climate Change Contributes to Mental Health Challenges in Young People
“Any stressor for a human being can lead to affecting any aspect of life. Gradually, an individual’s functioning is impacted.”
Young people today are navigating a complex terrain, academic pressure, social media expectations, identity struggles, and looming questions about their future.
“When it comes to the young, they are still learning how to deal with stressors… These stressors are already present. The stressor of climate change adding onto these already existing ones impacts their mental health negatively.”
The climate crisis becomes an additional weight on an already full plate, which explains why this demographic feels the impact of climate anxiety so sharply.
This anxiety doesn’t always translate into action. In fact, it often results in the opposite, inaction.
“Someone in anxiety of doing something loses ability to do something,” Jain explains.
Even those who want to act may find themselves stalled by the sheer scale of the crisis.
“They might be willing to do something about it but might lose the ability to do so.”
This is more than just emotional burnout, it points to the need for supportive, clear pathways to action that don’t overwhelm.
Reducing Eco Anxiety: Rethinking How We Communicate Climate Change
Jain proposes a refreshing approach. Don’t begin with fear. Begin with familiarisation. “We want to let them know about the situation but not tell them the fearful consequences first,” he explains. Instead, he encourages helping young people become familiar with their own environment, the trees they pass on their way to school, the air they breathe, the parks where they relax. “That is when reality is created, that there’s environment and how it affects them.”
He emphasizes a gentle progression. First, help them relate to nature. Then introduce “optimum data” the facts, figures, and challenges. “If we start with familiarising and after that, share the optimum data, they’ll feel less overwhelmed and naturally feel inclined to take action knowing its importance.”
When the environment feels like an extension of the self, caring for it becomes intuitive.
Sustainable Action and Mental Health: Creating Personal Meaning
One of the most powerful barriers to sustainable living is the narrow lens through which people often see their lives. Jain notes, “People today of whatever age are not able to think beyond themselves.” He’s not blaming, but rather pointing to a cultural shift, where disconnection from nature breeds indifference.
“It is required for them to know that to have a good life, they need not just money or friends,” he says. In fact, the things we seek joy in such as friendships, social outings, peace of mind, all suffer when the environment suffers. “If we wanna go out with friends and there’s some pollution, they can’t even breathe, what fun is there?”
Once people realize “that healthy environment is a basic need for all well-being,” sustainable habits stop feeling like a chore and start becoming a form of self-care.
Inspiring Action Against Climate Change with Simple, Hopeful Education
Activists and educators often face a dilemma. How do we sound the alarm without causing despair? Jain’s advice is clear, keep it simple, personal, and hopeful.
“Primary strategy to be adopted should be creating awareness of the very basics,” he suggests. Like teaching children to wash hands by first explaining how germs affect them, environmental education should start with how climate change touches daily life. “If an individual is made aware at a basic level about how climate change applies to their life, and small things they can do daily… it can probably bring at least some change.”
The key is clarity and relevance. “Once what has to be done and why it has to be done is made clear… people might just become a cause to help the situation.”
The Power of Nature in Healing Mental Health and Combatting Eco Anxiety
Beyond action and education lies another quiet force of resilience, nature itself. Jain highlights how natural settings influence emotional and cognitive well-being. “When the environment is good, people spend time and they feel better,” he says. The reverse is equally true, poor environments harm us, sometimes subtly. “A country with not much sunlight, you’ll find more depression patients there… if lots of rain happens for days continuously, it affects people’s mood.”
This is why reconnecting with green spaces isn’t just a luxury, it’s a mental health strategy.
For those struggling with climate grief or fear, therapy can offer an anchor. “Any situation resulting in grief or fear, it can be handled in similar way like how all psychological situations are handled,” Jain reassures.
Building a Relationship with the Environment: The Key to Climate Action
Sachin Jain’s insights remind us that environmental action is not just about knowledge, it’s about relationship. When people feel deeply connected to the natural world, they care for it not out of fear, but out of love.
“They can relate to it, that it’s a part of them and their existence and realise its importance,” he says. And once that realisation sets in, change doesn’t feel forced, it flows naturally.
In a time of crisis, this message offers both clarity and compassion. We must first care for our inner world to truly care for the world outside.