Table 5.

Coping mechanisms related to eco-anxiety, eco-guilt, and eco-grief.

Category	Example
Taking actions/planning	“And to be honest, after I joined Extinction Rebellion, I felt for the first time that I was doing something useful or I was actually doing something, and maybe that helped, too” (Participant 9). “(…) To give back to nature what belongs to nature. To be involved more actively in producing even less garbage. You know, this zero waste thing, which I haven’t achieved yet… it is very difficult to achieve anyway. So, I have tips like that. I think that from the moment a person is actively involved in action, the whole situation becomes less threatening…” (Participant 6).
Confrontation	“And then that’s when I get upset. Really, I can give an example from my narrowest circle of friends that I do have to tell them not to ask for a straw for their drink, it should be so obvious, why would you need it? You can drink your beverage without it, why is it so important now?” (Participant 6). “What really bothered me was people’s indifference. I didn’t know what to do with that. Their bad decisions… I had such a defining moment last year that although I liked those people, I was really angry with them because they took the car to a dining place that was only 5 min from us just because it was hot outside. And I looked at them like ‘Are you serious?’” (Participant 7).
Positive reappraisal, optimism	“So, I don’t think there will be such a big cataclysm here, I still believe in human goodness and eagerness for action” (Participant 10). “I wouldn’t really say I’m pessimistic and depressed about it, but let’s say it’s urging and motivating me” (Participant 16). “I can see that a lot of things are not worth worrying about. Technological innovation is the thing that definitely needs to be done, because it is so great, and it’s so good to read about it, and it’s really a matter of power games” (Participant 13). “These consequences may be known to some extent, so I’m not really worried about it [climate change], and I also know that God holds all of this in His hands, and I know what the end of this will be because the end will be a happy ending” (Participant 16).
Withdrawal/acceptance	“(…) The phrase ‘environmental protection’ is truly misleading because it is much more about the protection of humanity. Because the environment will survive and regenerate anyway, but people will not” (Participant 13). “Well, it’s such a very weird thing, because there are these five stages of grief, and these can also be applied to those who are diagnosed with a terminal illness. And then denial is the very first, you know. Then, when you get over it, you accept it in some way. And these five stages appeared alternately during the summer. Because along with Greta Thunberg, it all intensified, more and more people started sharing the news about it. And the UPFSI or UPFRS, I don’t know the acronym right now, has a channel on YouTube and I’ve seen two videos there, which have already made it clear that this is irreversible, and a lot of lectures, too. And Jem Bendel who worked for the IPCC or made reports, if I’m not wrong, and I think he’s working as a climate change researcher at the University of Bristol, he has already started a grief therapy group” (Participant 11).
Problem avoidance/denial/ wishful thinking	“But since I haven’t opened these articles anymore lately so they wouldn’t haunt me, I can only say what I thought about this half a year ago. Since then, I don’t know how bad the situation has become, but I don’t think it has changed because I haven’t heard that some miracle has happened and that everyone has really reacted to it” (Participant 12). “Well, what I can do to block this out is that I try to achieve different flow experiences by learning, doing yoga, fine arts, or some, I don’t know, cultural programs” (Participant 11). “But I’ve been thinking about it, and it would be so nice if people suspended all their actions for five years, didn’t go to college, work, but rather cleaned up the Earth, got the garbage out of the oceans, and figured out what to do with the garbage” (Participant 7).
Social support	“And then the way I was able to take part in Extinction Rebellion, it [the eco-anxiety] eased and I don’t think about it every day anymore, but only sometimes when I see the news, I get sad about it. This community can give me a lot and it’s very motivating that I’m in a company where others think and feel the same way I do. And the good thing about this company is that we do not talk about this topic all the time but we do talk about it as well, and that dissolves it all, and at the same time a community is forming that I’m very happy to join” (Participant 9). “It really bothered me that nobody in my milieu cared about these things. And then I secretly started looking for communities that cared, reading, and attending talks and things like that, where this climate issue is more in the focus of attention” (Participant 17).