Climate Anxiety and Kids, featuring Elizabeth Pinsky, MD – Shrinking It Down

Climate Anxiety - Child holding a young plant

By Elizabeth G. Pinsky, MD and Gene Beresin, Executive Director

Many kids are becoming more worried about climate change. Frightening predictions about the future and political inaction can make them feel that the crisis is out of their control. How can parents help their kids cope with anxiety around climate change?

On today’s episode of Shrinking It Down, Dr. Elizabeth Pinsky, a pediatrician and child psychiatrist at Mass General Hospital for Children, and mom of two young kids, joins Gene to discuss how parents can talk about climate change to kids of different ages, and ways to empower them to take action in their daily lives. Tune in for more!

Thank you for joining in this conversation. Have questions or comments about addressing kids’ climate anxiety? Write to us!

Tune in wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for “Shrinking It Down.”

Media List

Elizabeth Pinsky, MD (Massachusetts General Hospital for Children)
Working from home with kids feels unsustainable. Here’s how to ease the burden. (Vox)
How One Boston Doctor And Her Family Confront Climate Change (WBUR)
Mass General Remains Safe, Ready for Expectant Families During COVID-19 (MGH Obstetrics & Gynecology)
How does climate change affect disease? (Stanford University)
Carbon Emissions Are Falling, But Still Not Enough, Scientists Say (NPR)
Anxiety to Agency: Empowering Kids to Address Climate Change (MGH Clay Center)
Exclusive Poll: 80% of Young Voters Think ‘Global Warming is a Major Threat to Life as We Know It’ (VICE)
Climate Change Is Scaring Kids. Here’s How to Talk to Them (The New York Times)
NASA Climate Kids (NASA)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (YouTube)
Children, Climate Change, and Mental Health (The Family Dinner Project)
Climate Change: A Call to Action for the Psychiatric Profession (Academic Psychiatry)
PAW Patrol Theme Song | Nick Jr. | Music (YouTube)

Episode produced by Sara Rattigan

Episode edited by Joshua Eng

Music by Gene Beresin

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Elizabeth G. Pinsky, MD

Elizabeth G. Pinsky, M.D., is a pediatrician and child psychiatrist at Shriners Hospital for Children and Massachusetts General Hospital, where she directs the outpatient Child and Adolescent Medical Psychiatry clinic and consults with the inpatient ...

To read full bio click here.

Gene Beresin, Executive Director

Gene Beresin, MD, MA is executive director of The MGH Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, and a staff child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also...

To learn more about Gene, or to contact him directly, please see Our Team.