Support for distress associated with climate change in Finland – “The mind of eco-anxiety”

Climate change affects mental health, not just physical health, but research on its psychological impacts has generally been limited, especially long-term/gradual effects, and few EEA member countries address mental-health effects of climate change in national adaptation or public-health policy. Finland is among the few that have begun to, though implementation gaps remain within social affairs and health services.

The 'Mind of Eco-Anxiety' project builds on existing mental-health expertise to give people across all ages tools to regulate eco- and climate-anxiety, targeting especially those vulnerable (environmental-science workers/students, people with a strong environmental identity, young people, others with burdening life experiences), while raising public awareness, advocating recognition of eco-emotions as a societal (not purely individual/psychiatric) phenomenon, and promoting wider mental well-being.

Three free pillars: (1) Awareness -- the March 2021 'Let's talk about eco-emotions' campaign (with an environmental-emergency call endorsed by national mental-health organisations), webinars, the Ymparistoahdistus.fi website, podcasts, and group conversation chats for farmers/rural populations; (2) Support -- group-based sessions (3-5 sessions, ideally 10-15 participants plus one facilitator with a social-work/mental-health background) covering recognising eco-emotions, coping skills, community-building and future perspectives, plus volunteer training (autumn 2021, further training planned April 2022) to extend delivery, and workshops using mindfulness/empathy-based tools; (3) Education -- three-hour trainings for professionals (education, health, social work) plus shorter public webinars, and a 'Small Guide to Environmental Anxiety' information pack for teachers/educators (also translated to Swedish), reaching out to conservation organisations, activist groups and universities (e.g. University of Helsinki).

STEA (Finland's Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations) funded the project with 640,000 EUR over three years (2020-2022), supporting four staff (two full-time, two part-time). Awareness campaigns reached about 3,570,000 views. By early 2022, about 360 participants (mainly aged 20-30) took part in 30 eco-emotions workshops/support groups, and about 1,160 professionals (mainly women) attended around 30 training/informational events.

Three-year funding enabled free access and contributed to success; participant feedback was positive (interest in the topic, improved wellbeing, shared understanding); media interest and a public figure ('the Shouting Man') extended reach. The COVID-19 pandemic forced activities online, limiting depth of engagement, and participation among rural/farming communities and pre-existing activist groups was limited; better integration of emotional support within climate-activist communities (rather than external mental-health organisations) is suggested going forward.