Trigger warning: this post contains discussion of the current climate crisis. If this is something that bothers you or contributes to your anxiety, you might want to exit this post. The term eco-anxiety was just recently accepted by the American Psychological Association in 2017 as a definer for the ‘chronic fear of environmental doom’ which is now felt by a considerable size of the world’s populations, both in the southern and northern hemispheres. This eco-anxiety stems, in grand part, from the increasing alarmism reported by the news media and the abuse of headline-grabbing threats of an environmental apocalypse that make people feel hopeless and panicked about their future on our planet. Like news media and journalism, books are also susceptible to the dangerous use of alarmism to cover such difficult topics, as is the environmental threat to our planet.
As readers come to books as a form of refuge and escapism from the worries and concerns they experience on their everyday lives, or as a form of obtaining information on topics of their interest in the case of the majority of non-fiction, it is increasingly evident that the way in which authors and publishers handle certain matters can have unwanted or unexpected effects on the mental health of said readers. This has been especially acknowledge in the last few decades when society in general and the publishing industry in specific have internalised the realities of mental health and the dangerous effects of the unregulated consumption of media and have created a set of expectations for these experiences. Although we don’t expect media to go through a censoring process, we do expect there to be trigger warnings issued and certain topics to be treated with mindfulness and respect. If eco-anxiety can be this affecting to our mental health, then why do we not expect the same treatment for environmental content?
With the new boom of nature writing in adult non-fiction and the ‘Greta effect’ on children’s literature, it seems increasingly pressing that we pay attention to the coverage of the environmental struggle. Parents seem to be especially worried about environmentally-focused children’s books, as they fear heavy-handed moral tales of how you should be saving the planet cause more doom and despair, increasing their children’s anxieties about the future at an increasingly young age.
As psychologists have commented, it is impossible to obscure people or children to the reality of the climate crisis, and it would be counterproductive to do so. However, they do encourage a mindful consumption of environmental information that not only focuses on the draughts, the extinction of species, and deforestation, but rather promotes a healthy discussion of the topic so as to develop an emotional resilience with which to face these threats and empower people to take individual action.
As publishers and booksellers, I think we should take the realities of eco-anxiety into account and take responsibility when considering what environmentally-concerned works to publish and to promote. Although it is important to offer coverage of the climate crisis, what good would it bring to the ecological cause if, at the same time, we are also spreading alarmism and dread? It is difficult to find the right balance for such questions, but a good starting point would be to imitate the treatment of other mental health content.
Sources:
Tears at bedtime: are children’s books on environment causing climate anxiety? (The Guardian)
‘Overwhelming and terrifying’: the rise of climate anxiety (The Guardian)
Terrified of Climate Change? You Might Have Eco-Anxiety (Time)