Climate Change is a Mental Health Crisis
Let's talk about it.
Photo by Stormseeker on Unsplash
It's something not often talked about when we talk about climate change. But climate change is leading to a mental health crisis. For many people, that is already their reality. Stress, anxiety, aggression, suicide, and despair all increase under extreme conditions. These things are only going to get worse in the coming years and decades.
A 2020 APA survey showed that 56% of U.S. adults said climate change is the most important issue facing the world today. Nearly half of young adults aged 18 to 34 said they felt stress over climate change in their daily lives.
People are increasingly talking about their “climate anxiety,” especially young people. A 2021 survey of 10,000 young people from 10 countries 84% showed that young people were worried about climate change. Over 50% said they had feelings of sadness anxiety anger powerlessness and helplessness over 45% said their feelings about climate change had a negative impact on their lives.
It has long been understood that extreme heat leads to more violent behavior. Our bodies aren’t built for extreme heat. And as the mercury rises so do tempers. As temperatures go up we're more likely to lose our patience and resort to violence. This will of course only increase in the coming decades.
A 2022 World Health Organization policy brief emphasizes the need to recognize and take action about the mental health crisis around climate change.
The new policy brief recommends 5 important approaches for governments to address the mental health impacts of climate change:
integrate climate considerations with mental health programs;
integrate mental health support with climate action;
build upon global commitments;
develop community-based approaches to reduce vulnerabilities; and
close the large funding gap that exists for mental health and psychosocial support.
Enough data points.
By throwing the above data and links to articles and academic research at you, all I’m trying to show is that you are not alone. Or that person that you know who is climate anxious, is not alone. This is a real and growing problem, and just like climate change itself, should not be ignored.
Most of the world understands that climate change is happening and most of those people understand at some level, the implications of climate change happening. We see that especially in young people, but also in the global population as well, that's making a lot of us upset anxious, angry depressed. More so than we normally would be. That is not going to get better anytime soon.
So what do we do?
Well, the first step is realizing that we're not alone. Billions of people feel this way. We should probably find some of them and talk to them, comfort them, and ask them for comfort. Better yet, talk to them about what actions they are taking to fix this problem. Just curling up in the fetal position and giving in to despair doesn't accomplish much.
I know it's an attractive option at times. And sometimes we just can't get out of bed, you just can't face the world. That's ok. That happens to everyone.
We are near the end of the seven stages of climate grief.
First comes shock. This manifests itself with an initial paralysis upon fully understanding what climate is and it makes it so terrifying. Then comes denial, trying to convince ourselves that it can’t be that bad. Things are that bad. Next comes anger, as denial melts away and we become frustrated that not enough is being done. Then bargaining, where we look in vain for a straightforward way out; green tech will save us right? Offsets will make everything okay, right? When we realized there was no easy solution, we got to depression, finally realizing the inevitable. Testing comes next, where we seek out realistic solutions. Then in the end we get to acceptance, and finally find a way forward with the world we are left.
People are at different points along this continuum. I’m around testing and acceptance myself. I know things are bad, and there is no sense crying anymore. We must roll up our sleeves and get to work.
It’s ok to get angry about the way things are. Angry people get things done. A study that came out in September of 2023 showed that anger was the emotion that led to the most action around climate change. The study, which was conducted in Norway, found that climate activism was seven times more likely due to anger than due to hope. However, the researchers who conducted the study found that people on average had relatively mild feelings about climate change. The lead author of the study commented on this stating, “The problem, isn’t that people feel too scared about climate change. The problem, in Norway at least, seems to be that they’re not scared enough.”
We need to turn that anger and fear into action, so that is what I am going to ask you to do. Use that anger and fear as motivation to educate yourself, to seek out others who are in the struggle with you, and to engage with the powerful in our society to get things to change. Once you understand that climate change is coming for you, and you work through the seven stages of climate grief, you can get started.
In the meantime, reach out and talk to people about climate change. Tell them how you're feeling ask them how they're feeling. Offer them help if they need it. And ask for help if you need it.