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Climate Anxiety: How to Remain Hopeful & Resilient in Difficult Times

Plastic Pollution Coalition · last updated January 27, 2026 – 4:57 PM

Climate anxiety is affecting many of us as we witness our changing world, and it’s important to find ways to remain hopeful and resilient in these difficult times.

The climate emergency and interconnected global environmental and social disasters like plastic pollution, wildfires and other natural disasters, conflict and war, and political strife can all take a heavy toll on our mental health. How do we hold onto hope and make real change amid the endless flood of seemingly bad news?

It’s normal to feel some grief or even a sense of doom when taking in the recent news about climate-related disasters, environmental degradation and destruction, and declining human health. Climate anxiety and its related challenges—including plastic pollution—are real, and it’s important to recognize it and acknowledge your feelings. Here are some tips for transforming despair into action.

Take Breaks and Re-Shift Your Focus on Solutions

Sometimes, anxiety comes from not knowing enough—or conversely, knowing too much. The more you learn about the climate crisis, the more you understand what’s happening and why. Yet, startling realizations can sometimes lead us to dwell on the state of the world and its future. While staying informed is important, constantly taking in only difficult news can be paralyzing. So what do you do if you’re stuck in the muck?

First, check in with yourself and those sticky feelings. As much as we try to distract ourselves, those feelings need to be acknowledged. Ignoring them can cause them to build up and make you more stressed. Offer yourself validation and compassion as if you’re speaking to your best friend. You probably wouldn’t be mean to a best friend or loved one experiencing anxiety, so offer the same loving support for yourself and your emotions too.

Try shifting your focus to solutions and inundate yourself with positive climate news instead. Challenge yourself not to click on anything negative, even just for a day. From new efforts to expand renewable energy to environmental justice wins, there are good things happening, and learning about these can help you feel much more hopeful. Also, keep in mind that the human brain is wired to pay more attention to bad news than good (known as Negativity Bias), so cut yourself some slack.

Set boundaries for how often you check the news or follow media related to climate change, and take breaks. Think of yourself like a battery that needs a recharge—and a mental recharge is just as valid as a physical one. Instead of only focusing on the problems, look for the solutions (or as Mr. Rogers once said, always look for the helpers). Scientists, activists, and communities around the world are working hard to address climate change and its related challenges in innovative ways: renewable energy, environmental justice efforts, and regenerative initiatives are just a few examples. Keep an eye on those success stories (and aim to be one of the helpers) to stay hopeful.

Focus on What You Can Control and Connect with Others

You can make a difference by starting with what’s in your power to control. Reduce your use of plastic whenever you can, take the 4Rs pledge, support eco-friendly businesses, or talk to others about your anxiety and make a pact to push forth positive change. Research shows that simply having conversations about climate change and expressing concern can increase acceptance of climate science among family and friends.

What if you don’t know where to start? You can find your service superpower using Heather White’s book, Eco-Anxiety. White shows you how to contribute to the climate movement through self-discovery and self-care. With the Service Superpower Profile Assessment, you’ll discover how your personality, interests, and strengths can serve others and the planet. Learn more about turning anxiety into action from our 2022 webinar: The Power of Service: Moving from Anxiety to Action for the Planet.

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Remember that you’re not alone in caring about people and the planet. Being around like-minded people can help remind you that many people are fighting for a better future—join clubs or communities (online communities count!) where you can share ideas and work together, like Plastic Pollution Coalition.

You can do anything, but not everything.

— David Allen, Author

Practice Self-Care and Celebrate Wins (Even the Small Ones)

Dealing with anxiety is draining, so take dedicated time to care for yourself. Take a walk, hang out with your pets, catch up with a friend, cook a nourishing meal, make some art, or do things that make you feel relaxed and happy. When you feel good mentally and physically, you can better deal with stressful emotions and life overall. Resist the urge to feel guilty about resting and recharging.

Sometimes it can feel like nothing is changing, or worse, like progress is being undone. But every positive action matters, whether it’s a new policy holding polluters accountable or a new zero-waste store in your town. Take time to acknowledge and celebrate those valid wins.

One helpful anecdote is of a boy saving starfish on a beach. There are thousands of starfish, washed up and stranded on the shore, and a boy walks along and tosses them back into the ocean, one by one. A bystander comments, “You know you can’t save them all. There are so many—what difference will it even make?” The boy throws a starfish back into the ocean and says, “It made a difference to that one.”

Another inspiring anecdote is that of the hummingbird and the forest fire. While the rest of the woodland creatures stand around and watch their home burn, the hummingbird does the best it can to put out the fire, even though it has a tiny beak and can only carry one drop of water at a time. Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai told the story in the documentary film Dirt (2009):

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Cultivate Resilience

Resilience is built through taking small steps over time, and you can work toward cultivating more of it. Learn how to rest and take breaks instead of quitting outright, stay connected to your community, and remain adaptable.

Something to think about from Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning—who do you want to be, given the current reality as it exists? Do you want to be the kind of person who gives up, or do you want to “rage, rage against the dying of the light”? Resilient people don’t give up—they keep moving forward, even when times are difficult.

‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.

‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Practice Mindfulness

Practicing mindfulness can help calm your mind and reduce your anxiety. Ground yourself with simple techniques like deep breathing, binaural beats sound therapy, or surrounding yourself with nature while deeply paying attention to what you see around you. Better yet, practice tonglen or take yourself to a body of water to activate your Blue Mind. These might seem like small steps, but practice them consistently and they will help you focus on the present instead of spiraling over the future.

Sometimes when you get stuck or feel down, it’s essential to go back to basics—take the next best action you’re able to take during the day that you’re in. When did you last drink a glass of water or have a nourishing meal? Remind yourself that the present moment is all that you need to focus on.

Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’

— Anne Lamott, Author

Imagine What Your Higher Self Would Do

When we’re overwhelmed by climate anxiety, we can lose touch with our sense of purpose and meaning. Getting in touch with your higher self, which is that inner knowing of who you are and what you’re meant to contribute, can help you find clarity amid chaos. This doesn’t have to be a mystical practice, though it can be if that resonates with you. Connecting with your higher self means tapping into your authentic values, strengths, and the unique gifts you have to offer the world.

One practical way to discover how your higher self wants to serve is by connecting through asking yourself deeper questions: What kind of ancestor do you want to be? What legacy do you want to leave? When you anchor your actions in something larger, you build a foundation of purpose that can carry you through difficult times. Your higher self already knows what you have to contribute; you just need to tap in. When you align your actions with your authentic self, your work becomes less draining and more sustainable.

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Be Kind and Compassionate to Yourself

It’s normal to feel anxious or frustrated about the ongoing climate crisis, so don’t be hard on yourself for having these feelings. It’s okay to feel worried. Acknowledge your feelings, but don’t let them stop you from doing what you can to help. Compassionately acknowledging how you feel and checking in with yourself goes a long way toward self-soothing and finding groundedness.

Even though the climate crisis is a monumental challenge, people all over the world are finding ways to make a positive impact. Stay engaged, stay hopeful, take time to rest and relax, and keep doing what you can to create a better future. And it’s more than okay if you can’t do it all—take the pressure off yourself and remember that it takes a collective with many different skills and abilities to make this change. And you are an important part of this collective, just as you are.