During the COVID-19 pandemic, communities around the world experienced a sharp rise in stress, anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Systemic deficiencies in access to mental health services emerged, with billions in funding allocated to improved solutions.
But those solutions must be underpinned by a deep understanding of how certain factors affect mental health, including climate change.
The connection of hurricanes, wildfires and floods with physical health is clear: they cause injuries, hospitalization and death and damage infrastructure it is used to provide food, water, sewage, technology, and medical supplies.
What is less understood is the impact of extreme weather events on mental health, especially when it comes to children.
Trauma, mental health and extreme weather events
Trauma and shock can occur after witnessing injuries or deaths of loved ones, or damage to personal property or loss of livelihood, such as the destruction of small businesses. Studies of adult survivors indicate a prevalence of PTSD between 30-60% in the first year after a disaster event. Even if PTSD does not develop, survivors are at risk of anxiety or depression.
Historically, extreme weather events were considered unique natural disasters where survivors could recover and rebuild. With climate change accelerating, communities are experiencing recurring disasters that are difficult to recover from.
As extreme weather events increase, the public is becoming more aware of climate change. According to the American Psychological Association, 75% of Americans are concerned about climate change and 25% are alarmed, a figure that has doubled since 2017.
The worsening of climate change and the growing awareness of it mean that it is no longer just survivors who experience mental health effects. Initially documented in 2007, a new phenomenon called eco-anxiety.
Eco-anxiety: a driver of the mental health pandemic
Eco-anxiety is worry about the future that can lead to fear, anger, helplessness, exhaustion, stress, or sadness. While there has been debate in the medical community about the exact definition, there is consensus that uncertainty and lack of control fuel ecological anxiety.
This could be because young people have a more uncertain future and therefore see climate change as a greater threat. than previous generations. Other factors also play a role: Identifying as female, not being able to take action, and having a strong connection to the land can make ecological anxiety worse.
Social networks also play a role. People, especially children, are now learning about climate change. throught social media. Witnessing natural disasters online, while different from living through them, can catalyze the development of ecological anxiety. Adults can reassure children by adopting behaviors that actively combat climate change. Protective factors against eco-anxiety include engaging in activism, trusting technology, and developing a sense of agency over climate change.
A risk to our children and the economy
With billions in funding pouring into mental health in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that proposed solutions address emerging issues like ecological anxiety. Otherwise, we risk spending on solutions that don’t address the full spectrum of mental health issues.
This is especially important in the field of youth mental health, where recipients of care are more aware of the intersectionality between these fields: 67% of Americans ages 18-23 they are too concerned about the impact of climate change on their mental health.
Problem-focused coping: actively moving forward to address climate change.
Emotion-focused coping: Managing negative emotions related to climate change.
Meaning-focused coping: manage negative emotions related to climate change and, at the same time, promote positive emotions such as hope in combating climate change.
Although emotion-focused coping has been the most common strategy used by adolescents and young adults to date, research has found meaning-focused coping to be the most effective with respect to eco-anxiety. When done correctly, meaning-focused coping, such as getting involved in the fight against climate change through volunteering or campaigning, facilitates positive emotions like hope. without ignoring the negatives like anger or anxiety.
The end result is processing, rather than stalling, anxiety and feeling motivated to engage in activism and other pro-environmental behaviors.
Not only will this improve the mental health of those concerned about climate change, but it will also contribute to the grassroots movement to protect our planet.
Dr. Katherine Grill is CEO and co-founderNeolth
This article was first published in the World Economic Forum. read the article here.
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