Stuff You Should Know - How Eco-anxiety Works

Episode Date: November 18, 2008

Eco-anxiety -- a chronic fear of environmental doom -- is a recent, specialized type of anxiety disorder gripping an estimated 40 million people in the United States. Check out this HowStuffWorks podcast to learn more about eco-anxiety. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Flooring contractors agree. When looking for the best to care for hardwood floors, use Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner, the residue-free, fast-drying solution especially designed for hardwood floors, delivering the safe and effective clean you trust. Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner is available at most retailers where floor cleaning products are sold and on Amazon. Also available for your other hard surface floors like stone, tile, laminate, vinyl, and LVT. For cleaning tips and exclusive offers, visit Bona.com slash Bona Clean. Attention Bachelor Nation. He's back. The host of some of America's most dramatic TV moments returns with the most dramatic podcast ever with Chris Harrison. During two decades in reality TV,

Chris saw it all and now he's telling all. It's going to be difficult at times. It'll be funny. We'll push the envelope. We have a lot to talk about. Listen to the most dramatic podcast ever with Chris Harrison on the iHeart Radio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by the reinvented 2012 Camry. It's ready. Are you? Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh. There's Chuck. This is Stuff You Should Know, as you know. I don't think you've ever said that. The title of our podcast. I'm trying out something new. I like that. Let the mighty eagle soar, Chuck. I agree. Yeah. So,

have you ever heard of Eugenics, Chuck? No, because you tease me before we went on the air and asked you what it was. So I may have the conversation and you refuse. I refuse to tell you, didn't I? Yeah. So let's swing it. So this is genuine. You really genuinely don't know. I have no idea. This is a stupid segue that you already know the answer to. Nope. Okay. Well, let me tell you a little bit about Eugenics. It's a little history lesson. American history to be exact. Early 20th century. There was a movement afoot in the scientific community to basically purify the human race to make humans, you know, the best we can possibly be. Right. But to do that, we had to get rid of humans that were deemed deficient. And for those

of you listening out there, I just made very, very strong air quotes with my fingers. So these deficient humans were anybody from the mentally infirm epileptics, people born blind or deaf, mute. And just basically anybody who clubfoot. Oh, yeah, you did not want to be clubfoot in 1920 in America. Right. But this is, it's a little known aspect of American history. The government got behind this, this Eugenics movement. And there's actually, I believe there's a few people alive today that were sterilized by the federal government. That's Eugenics. Wow. It really happened. Well, I'm glad it didn't take. It didn't take, although it almost did elsewhere in a little place we call Germany. Right. Adolf Hiller actually didn't come up with this idea of, you know, the

Superman of the Aryan race, the perfect race on his own. He got it from the Eugenics movement and a guy named Henry Ford, who is a huge proponent of Eugenics. Really? Yep. Little known fact. Wow. Let's fast forward to the 21st century. All right. Right now, there are at least two women walking the planet who voluntarily had themselves sterilized. Do you know why they did this? So they couldn't have babies? That's precisely right, Chuck. Okay. How insightful of you. The reason that they did this, yes, was because they didn't want to contribute to the population and its negative effects on the environment. This is their service to the environment. They were making sure they didn't procreate ever. And I'm sure they probably went to the press to tout this.

Most definitely. Yeah. And yeah, it was a big deal. There was a couple of articles I read on them. And I guess what I'm trying to say is I would call that an example of eco-anxiety. Yeah, I think it's, I would agree with you there. Do you want to define eco-anxiety? Sure. Eco-anxiety is, it's sort of a new affliction that they've, yeah, very new, where people have chronic fears of environmental doom in one way or the other, whether it's a global warming, flood, famine, heat waves, extinction, that kind of thing. And I don't, I don't know exactly how widely held this diagnosis is. Right. But apparently it is real. And it's, it's somewhat like a general anxiety disorder where you have insomnia, nervousness,

depression, that kind of thing. Except it's very specifically triggered from, you know, thinking about or being presented with evidence of the destruction of the environment. Right. Or even actually I did a little extra research for a change. And a lot of these folks even just, they'll see, they'll obsess over like a can or a water bottle. They'll be walking down the street and they'll see a can on the road and they'll want to stop their car. Well, I guess they'd be driving. They'll want to stop their car just to get that can. Or bike, probably bike. This one lady sifts, yeah, they'd be on a bike, I guess. They sift through the trash sometimes, looking for recyclables. I've actually done that before. I don't consider myself eco anxious,

though. It's more just like, well, this can be recycled. Well, I've done that. I've just taken something off the top, perhaps. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't like get my hands really dirty. Right. But I don't, I don't make it a point to go around two trash cans to sift through them, which I think some of these folks do. Actually, if that is a symptom of eco anxiety, then maybe this isn't new because hobos have been doing that for years. Maybe right. Yeah. So maybe these are just hobos in disguise. Right. They were the first eco anxious. Yeah, exactly. So there is no need for the outside world because we are removed from it and apart from it and in our own universe. On the new podcast, The Turning, Room of Mirrors, we look beneath the delicate

veneer of American ballet and the culture formed by its most influential figure, George Balanchine. There are not very many of us that actually grew up with Balanchine. It was like I grew up with Mozart. He could do no wrong. Like he was a God. But what was the cost for the dancers who brought these ballets to life? Were the lines between the professional and the personal were hazy and often crossed? He used to say, what are you looking at, dear? You can't see you. Only I can see you. Most people in the ballet world are more interested in their experience of watching it than in a dancer's experience of executing it. Listen to The Turning, Room of Mirrors on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. The war on drugs impacts everyone, whether or not you take drugs. America's public enemy, number one, is drug abuse. This podcast is going to show you the truth behind the war on drugs. They told me that I would be charged for conspiracy to distribute 2200 pounds of marijuana. Yeah, and they can do that without any drugs on the table. Without any drugs, of course, yes, they can do that. And I'm the prime example of that. The war on drugs is the excuse our government uses to get away with absolutely insane stuff. Stuff that'll piss you off.

The property is guilty, exactly. And it starts as guilty. It starts as guilty. Cops, are they just like looting? Are they just like pillaging? They just have way better names for what they call, like what we would call a jack move or being robbed, that you call civil asset for. Be sure to listen to the war on drugs on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, so that's that's ego anxiety. We've got that covered.

And it seems like people who are ego anxious are just kind of maybe nervous nellies. And this is a real outlet for them. I have a feeling that might be the case that because you know anxiety. Yeah, exactly. It seems like there's general anxiety. And then emanating from that are these things that can trigger it, right? Right. Think about it. Ego anxiety is new. And it's kind of developed along with our consciousness of how badly we're treating the planet these days.

Sure. But it was fear of flying around before airplanes were invented. Exactly. Or in there's also a lot of a lot of psychologists that believe that claustrophobia didn't really generate until or develop until the modern city. Right. And that kind of living close and all that actually led to claustrophobia. So it almost seems like this is totally me opining here.

But it seems like there's general anxiety disorders. And then it just kind of there's there's triggers for different triggers for different folks. Right. Almost like you look for something to to be anxious about. Exactly. Well, eco anxiety is the new anxiety du jour. So we should probably tell everybody, you know, what they can possibly do about this kind of thing. Right. Well, I know that many people who suffer from eco anxiety feel a great deal of or a great lack of support rather from friends and family. A lot of times they aren't very understanding because they think it's not exactly.

Kooky. Yeah, they think it's a little kooky or if nothing else unfounded. Although I did notice in the article that a Gallup poll states that 36% of Americans say they worry a great deal about global warming. And that same poll found 35% of people think that global warming will pose a threat to their life or their lifestyle within their lifetime. Right. So I guess that's a I mean, I kind of believe that as well. I believe in global warming and I think that it's already having some negative effects.

But I don't carry it around with me on a daily basis as far as worrying about it. I think it's a difference. Right. I think my problem with the eco anxiety diagnosis is that any, any gesture toward the environment toward protecting the environment that isn't born exclusively out of a sense of responsibility qualifies as eco anxiety, which I kind of disagree with. I did too. I did too, but there's a pretty good explanation for eco anxiety that eco psychologists have come up with.

And that basically it's it's a symptom or a byproduct of our increasing disconnection from the planet. Right. We have we've created technology that has effectively taken us out of any kind of need to be cared for by the planet or we've at least created that idea in our minds that we have insulated ourselves from the planet through technology. We don't need it any longer except to walk on and drink the water from it. Any problems we face, we can basically engineer our way out of it.

Right. But apparently we're supposed to connect with the planet. We're supposed to feel connected with the planet. So as we get less and less connected to it, we're getting more and more eco anxious. That's the explanation as I understand it. Right. And one on that same note, one thing I thought was kind of funny actually, if you want me to be honest, one of the things that eco therapists will do at a rate of 250 an hour to help you cure this will be to advise you to carry around a rock or a piece of bark

to connect yourself with mother nature. Again, the other suggestion that I read that I liked was to go outside. Right. I would love to chart somebody 250 bucks for 50 minutes to tell them to go outside. Right. I mean, how do you do that? That's awesome. Sure.

Yeah. And you know, we don't want to belittle because it is a valid. If it's a valid concern for somebody, then who are we to say that it's not? Who are we to draw judgment on somebody who walks around in a constant state of panic when they see an idling car, let's say, or a water bottle sitting on the ground? So while we might think it's a bit silly, they might think that my fear of mice is silly. I think your fear of mice is really silly. Right. There is no need for the outside world because we are removed from it and apart from

it and in our own universe. On the new podcast, The Turning, Room of Mirrors, we look beneath the delicate veneer of American ballet and the culture formed by its most influential figure, George Balanchine. There are not very many of us that actually grew up with Balanchine. It was like I grew up with Mozart. He could do no wrong. Like he was a God. But what was the cost for the dancers who brought these ballets to life,

where the lines between the professional and the personal were hazy and often crossed? He used to say, what are you looking at, dear? You can't see you. Only I can see you. Most people in the ballet world are more interested in their experience of watching it than in a dancer's experience of executing it. Listen to The Turning, Room of Mirrors on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The war on drugs impacts everyone, whether or not you take drugs. America's public enemy number one is drug abuse. This podcast is going to show you the truth behind the war on drugs. They told me that I would be charged for conspiracy to distribute 2200 pounds of marijuana. Yeah, and they can do that without any drugs on the table. Without any drugs, of course, yes, they can do that. And I'm the prime example of that. The war on drugs is the excuse our government uses to get away with absolutely insane stuff.

Stuff that'll piss you off. The property is guilty, exactly. And it starts as guilty. It starts as guilty. The cops, are they just, like, looting? Are they just, like, pillaging? They just have way better names for what they call, like, what we would call a jack move, or being robbed.

They call civil acid work. Be sure to listen to The War on Drugs on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Yeah, but yeah, I can understand what you're saying. And I think that's a legitimate thing to point out, because however it manifests itself, it's still in a form of anxiety. But this is perhaps maybe the most productive form of anxiety there is, you know? I mean, you don't want to just, like, curl up in the corner with your chest,

your knees drawn up to your chest, rocking back and forth. You want to go pick recyclables out of the trash and do something, you know? Maybe go fight off Japanese whalers in the Arctic, something like that. Right, join Greenpeace. Something. I mean, at least it motivates you to do something that has a happy end, a happy ending. Or just carry on a piece of bark in your pocket, which is really the least you can do, you know? That's not very good advice, if you ask me.

I think they can inspire somebody to actually make change, instead of just carrying a rock. Yeah, or bark. So there was one other aspect that I found kind of interesting about eco-anxiety, was that it was largely driven by the media. Yeah. I completely agree with that. Right, and our friend Al Gore, I know, has... Leo DiCaprio.

Yeah, has inspired with his film, An Inconvenient Truth, which was, you know, kind of frightening. Yeah, well, as with any kind of public policy push or campaign, it has to be said, the problem has to be identified, and the public has to be alerted to it. But we generally, especially in America, are fairly lazy and like to have things spoon-fed to us. Right. So the best way to get us to, you know, get off of the lazy boy and drop our Budweiser and, you know, maybe get out there and do something, is to scare the hell out of us. Right.

And it's a legitimate marketing tactic. There's this acronym called FUD, Fear, Uncertainty, and Dread. And these are actually three marketing ploys to get people to do something. So whether it's, you know, saving the polar bears. Right. Or getting you to go to the midnight madness sale. Right. It's the same tactics.

And I can see how, especially, missing the midnight madness sale, that's pretty bad. But eventually, you're going to get over it. You're like, that sucks, I missed out on those savings, but I'll live. It's FUD. With the environment, the stakes are so much higher. Right. That I think if you're going to try to get people to act, you have to be slightly more delicate maybe.

Sure. Because you have the eco-anxious out there. Right. You've got to be careful with these folks. Yeah. My wife, I wouldn't call her eco-anxious, but she does worry about the polar bears. Sure. Stuff like that.

Well, don't we all? Yeah. So I guess my advice to our readers would be, and I think I speak for Chuck as well, the next time you see a well-dressed liberal rooting through the trash and pulling cans out, be extra nice to them because they may be among the eco-anxious. Right. Or tout yourself as an eco-therapist and take money from them. Yeah.

Keep loads of bar candy. Right. Like pharmaceutical samples. Right. Well, don't go anywhere. We want you to stick around to find out which article Chuck and I think has the most useful, useless information we've heard in quite some time. Chuck, do you want to be the big boy who tells them which article we think has the most useful,

useless information in it? Yes. I would be the big boy. Do it. Why is it a bad idea to scare a vulture written by our colleague, Kristin Conger? Yes. And do you want to tell everybody why it's a bad idea? Yeah.

Because apparently if a vulture gets scared, it will vomit on cue. And this vomit is not ordinary vomit, apparently. Vulture vomit. It smells like dead things appropriately enough, but it also burns. Right. It's very acidic. Yeah. So you should probably just steer clear of vultures anyway.

Right. I would say we say useless, useful, or useful, useless depending on where you're coming from. Because it sounds silly, but if you ever scared a vulture and it puked on you, then you'd... You'd find out it's not so silly. Yeah, exactly. Well, you can arm yourself against this eventuality, learn some vulture psychology, how to keep away from that kind of thing, type in why is it a bad idea to scare a vulture into our handy-dandy search bar.

You can learn more about eco-anxiety by typing in how eco-anxiety works, both of those articles that would be found in only one place. That is howstuffworks.com. For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit howstuffworks.com. Let us know what you think. Send an email to podcast at howstuffworks.com. Brought to you by the reinvented 2012 Camry. It's ready.

Are you? Hey, I'm Lance Bass, host of the new iHeart podcast Frosted Tips with Lance Bass. Do you ever think to yourself, what advice would Lance Bass and my favorite boy bands give me in this situation? If you do, you've come to the right place because I'm here to help. And a different hot, sexy teen crush boy bander each week to guide you through life. Tell everybody, yeah, everybody about my new podcast and make sure to listen, so we'll never, ever have to say bye-bye-bye.

Listen to Frosted Tips with Lance Bass on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Attention, Bachelor Nation. He's back. The host of some of America's most dramatic TV moments returns with the most dramatic podcast ever with Chris Harrison. During two decades in reality TV, Chris saw it all. And now he's telling all.

It's going to be difficult at times. It'll be funny. We'll push the envelope. We have a lot to talk about. Listen to the most dramatic podcast ever with Chris Harrison on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.