Environmental anxiety and its impact on the mental health of the individual

Dnipro Humanitarian University, Department of Psychology, Orlovskaya ulitsa, 1, 49033 Dnipro, Ukraine

^* Corresponding author: lprisnyakova@ukr.net

Abstract

In this study, “environmental anxiety” refers to a state of anxiety and tension that arises as a result of concern about the state of the environment and its impact on human health and safety. Psychological distress can be caused by various factors, such as stressful situations, genetic characteristics, neurochemical imbalances, psychological factors, traumatic events, chronic diseases, drug and alcohol use, as well as sociocultural influences. The main forms of environmental anxiety include: fear of environmental problems, disturbing thoughts, concern about possible health effects, hypersensitivity syndrome to environmental factors, anxiety in connection with environmental crises, social anxiety due to environmental aspects, anxiety due to news and media. These forms of anxiety can manifest in different symptoms and manifest at different levels of the personality: physical manifestations, psychological reactions, emotional manifestations, behavioral changes and physiological reactions. The possibility of developing environmental anxiety in the context of environmental issues can be explained by various psychological mechanisms, such as a perceptual filter, catastrophic thinking, a sense of security, social influence, a sense of loss of control and uncertainty, as well as psychosomatic reactions. The publication also provides various psychological approaches and methods aimed at reducing the level of environmental anxiety, such as psychological counseling, cognitive-behavioral therapy, meditation and mindfulness, exposure therapy, stress management, journaling, healthy lifestyle, outdoor recreation, positive perception and understanding of environmental aspects.