The dynamics of loss and hope in a world of wars and climate change

The environmental and political problems caused by climate change are well known and widely debated, whereas the psychological fears arising from the eco-crisis have been less openly discussed. However, a wealth of empirical data indicates a high prevalence of anxiety and the loss of future perspectives, particularly among young people. The relevant psychological aspects involved are poorly understood. Dealing with eco-related fears is important, as the motivation to work for change depends on the psychological maturity with which multiple challenges of the eco-crisis are faced. The key idea of this study is to propose that the deep-seated fears triggered by the eco-crisis resemble the developmentally early, non-verbal anxieties of human infants. This analogy may help explain why eco-anxiety is difficult to comprehend. Addressing the resistant affects related to eco-crisis may facilitate the acceptance of early, unconscious components of anxiety, thereby reducing its psychological burden. Psychoanalytical perspectives derived from the works of Donald Winnicott, Wilfred Bion, and Sigmund Freud are presented to demonstrate how a psychoanalytical approach can be used to confront their resistance to accepting a crisis and the fears associated with it. The concept of a safe prior was introduced to illuminate the real and developmental nature of the early sense of security, which forms the cornerstone for maintaining psychological safety and cognitive functioning. A brief clinical vignette is presented to highlight how impingement on psychological safety in early infancy can be followed by resistant paranoid fears in adult life, particularly when more mature methods of mastering the experiences of loss are lacking. At the end, the study highlights the sense of omnipotence reflected in the denial exhibited by political leaders who refuse to submit to reality testing in the face of current environmental challenges.