13. Britt Wray on Generation Dread and the rise of eco-anxiety

Challenging Climate

Dr Britt Wray is an author and researcher working at the forefront of climate change and mental health. She is currently a Human and Planetary Health Fellow at Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Britt’s research focuses on the mental health impacts of the climate crisis and has published popular books such as Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics and Risks of De-Extinction, and Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis.

In this episode, we spoke with Britt about eco-anxiety, how it can affect our mental health and daily lives, and how we can cope and find optimism. We began by diving into the trends in eco-anxiety across demographics and over time. We also discussed the role of media in propelling eco-anxiety and why sentiments of the general public differ from climate experts.

Links:

• Britt Wray’s website
• Britt's books: Generation Dread and Rise of the Necrofauna
• Gen Dread newsletter (free subscription!)
• The Hickman et al. (2021) paper on a global survey on climate anxiety in children and youth and their perception of government responses to climate change

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1. 13. Britt Wray on Generation Dread and the rise of eco-anxiety (00:00:00)

2. Introduction and background (00:02:16)

3. What is eco-anxiety? (00:07:22)

4. Youth survey: trends in eco-anxiety over time and across demographics (00:10:12)

5. How do people struggle and cope with eco-anxiety? (00:22:09)

6. Is eco-anxiety linked to eco-radicalism and eco-fascism? (00:28:04)

7. General public vs. climate experts’ sentiments towards climate change (00:32:05)

8. Role of media and social media (00:41:27)

9. What gives you optimism? (00:50:09)