Preventing and Healing from Climate Burnout
Much of what we read about the mental health impacts of climate change address anxiety in the general population, but for activists, climate scientists, and other people who are deeply engaged in climate work, the threat of burnout is very real. For climate advocates who are also parents or caregivers, the risk of burnout may be amplified.
These resources can help you learn how to prevent or heal from burnout as a climate advocate.
WEBSITES AND ARTICLES
- The Resilient Activist
- Eos.org: The emotional toll of climate change on science professionals
- GenDread: A question on Earth Day: who is protecting the people who are protecting us?
- Psychology Today: How to revive from parental burnout
- American Psychological Association: The impact of parental burnout: What psychological research suggests about how to recognize it and overcome it
- The New York Times: How parents can tame the stress of climate crises
- Climate Critical Earth: Climate Burnout Report
BOOKS
- “Fostering the adaptive mind: Supporting ourselves and each other,” by Susi Moser. Chapter in: All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine Wilkinson
- A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet, by Sarah Jaquette Ray
- Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis, by Britt Wray
- Burnout: Unlocking the Stress Cycle, by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski
PODCASTS
FILMS AND VIDEOS
- Burnout: The toll of studying climate change
- Climate Activism Without Burnout: Evidence-Based Practices to Improve Well-Being (webinar)
Updated: April 2024