You couldn’t make this stuff up even if you tried.

In a small room in Lower Manhattan, a group of eight New Yorkers sat in a circle sharing kombucha and their climate fears against the background of pattering rain and wailing sirens.

In Champaign, Ill., a psychotherapist facilitating a meeting for other therapists held up a branch of goldenrod, asking the half-dozen participants online to consider their connection to nature.

And in Kansas City, Mo., a nonprofit that runs a weekly discussion on Zoom began its session with a spiritual reading and a guided meditation before breaking into groups to discuss topics like the ethics of childbearing amid a fast-rising global population and concerns of resource scarcity.

All were examples of a new grass-roots movement called climate cafes. These in-person and online groups are places for people to discuss their grief, fears, anxiety and other emotions about the climate crisis.

For a moment, it was looking like this report might have been authored by the Babylon Bee or was inspired by an episode of Portlandia. One also has to wonder if this news item is part of a news cycle since this time last year, the media reported about a mental condition known as ecogrief and that the Fish and Wildlife Service was even going to host programs for agency employees to deal with the problem.

Having panic attacks or worrying about the state of the climate makes sense if you subscribe to the environmentalist’s doom-and-gloom. Not surprisingly, anxiety over climate change has spread so quickly that it has gone mainstream, despite not being considered a medical condition.

Anxiety or fears about climate change have been reported on for many years and it is no surprise that some people are suffering bouts of depression or anxiety over what is being alleged about the state of the climate. It has gotten so bad, that people are not having children due to the panic spread about the coming end of the world, while others even resort to political activism, assisted or outright suicide out of sheer panic.

This is not to snicker at or make fun of people who have serious concerns about climate change. However, worrying so much about the issue distracts from much worse things that can and do occur in people’s lives. Panic over climate change is very likely due to the relaying of exaggerated information. In light of the past and present neuroses over climate change, people need to demand a more rational, less frightening discussion of the issue including tolerating dissent or disagreement (which is becoming rarer by the year).

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay