CBT for navigating worry founded in reality?
I am looking for some resources for my son who is 18. He has a diagnosis of anxiety which runs both i my family and his dad’s. When he was a kid, he would ruminate over an asteroid hitting the earth or his parents having a car accident. But he was also usually a happy functioning kid with activities, interests, etc
Now he has had a collapse about climate and this is hard because it is absolutely real and genuinely terrifying. The headlines are filled with forest fires, extreme weather, etc.
His doctor recommended CBT and I am looking at workbooks and resources. There seems to be a serious gap in the material.
I am finding that materials are either:
- focused on climate anxiety for people with “normal” social responses: “take action, write letters, join a group, research the issue, read all the things, talk to your family and friends, etc”. These are toolkits for otherwise well functioning people. They note that it is healthy to take the odd break, but they mostly want the reader to do more.
or
- Manuals focused on GAD, OCD or panic disorder that assume the worry is exaggerated or focused on improbable dangers.
We are left stranded between two unsuitable messages:
“Your fear is irrational; challenge the thought.” His fear is not irrational.
and
“Your fear is valid! Become active and engaged!” He is too exhausted and desperate.
Neither addresses: The threat is real but you have become totally incapacitated.
Are there some CBT resources that are founded on managing worry about real and genuinely overwhelming concerns?
I found a manual called What to Do When Worries Ring True that recognizes that standard manuals often mishandle realistic dangers. But it is guidance for therapists, not patients.
I need something that acknowledges climate science (or other valid and terrifying fears) while treating the symptoms of anxiety: constant rumination, compulsive research, repeated reassurance-seeking (is there hope?) combined with constant searching for confirmation of fears (there don’t seem to be enough insects, the lake seems warmer, those trees are dead, the fires in bc are unprecedented, our city is engulfed in smoke, the rhine is at its lowest level, etc), panic, inability to sleep, —before discussing activism. I need to get him back to his baseline so he can make it to tomorrow, next week, next month.
Any ideas about resources? Anyone working on this? Some psychologist who has contemplated what seems like a very obvious problem? Or someone else in the environmental or health world who could point me in the right direction?