Creating Hope and Progress During Climate Crises
As climate change impacts millions of people around the globe, terminologies such as eco-grief, climate anxiety, and solastalgia, a combination of the words “solace” and “nostalgia,” have emerged to describe the distress over their broken relationships with the planet.
Yet, dedicated grassroots-to-global climate actions spur hope, and citizens may find reassurance in the collective consciousness committed to combating climate change and its impact on mental health.
How Environmental Crises Affect Mental Health
The relationship between mental health and people’s environmental attitudes and actions are “intimately related and inseparable,” says Michael Goodman, professor of environment and development/human geography at the University of Reading in the UK.
As climate-related disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires, and floods become more frequent and intense, more people are exposed to potentially traumatic events.
As climate-related disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, become more frequent and intense, more people are exposed to potentially traumatic events, such as by witnessing injury or death, often of family members, friends, or neighbors.
“With an increase in such exposure, many people will experience higher levels of psychological distress,” says Gary Cohen, co-founder and president of Health Care Without Harm, a US-based organization focusing on environmentally responsible healthcare.
“There is growing recognition that our safety, health, and ability to thrive—as individuals, families, and communities—is in danger because of the increasing instability of our climate,” Cohen says.
Climate-related disasters affect the social determinants of health because these events can lead to unemployment, homelessness and displacement, food and water insecurity, and loss of social support. As a result, these conditions can detrimentally affect people’s mental health.
Expand Research and Public Awareness
The growing number of studies on environmental disasters and their impacts on personal well-being reflect an elevated awareness of the relationship between climate change and mental health.
In 2022, University of Cambridge researchers found a link between gender-based violence during or after extreme climate events. A 2018 study predicted that unmitigated climate change could lead to as many as 40,000 additional suicides in the US and Mexico by 2050. Scientific studies have also found connections between climate change and its effects on anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and aggression.
UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index estimates that half of all the world’s children—over one billion—are at risk of climate impacts in their lifetimes. A May 2023 study in Nature Mental Health said that “[u]nlike previous generations, whose awareness of climate change was largely abstract and unlinked to daily life, contemporary young people are more aware of the results of climate change and the dearth of answers surrounding how this will impact their futures.” It cited a study of 10,000 youth in 10 countries that found that 59% were “very” or “extremely” worried about climate change and 84% were moderately worried.
Research shows that the more access people have to green spaces and outdoor environments, the better mental health and physical health they have overall.
Research shows that the more access people have to green spaces and outdoor environments, the better mental health and physical health they have overall. Green spaces and outdoor programs that focus on improving mental health convey the vital role of a healthy environment.
At the Imperial College of London, UK, the Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment formed a team of researchers, policy-makers and educators called “Climate Cares.” Together with international partners, they are engaged in a year-long project, Connecting Climate Minds, to initiate dialogues on climate change and mental health, exploring ideas on how to connect communities and pursue global research.
Support Vulnerable Populations
Survey data details the psychological distress experienced by people in contemplating the loss of a habitable planet and environmental destruction. Dr. Alison Hwong, researcher and postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, states that this distress may be disproportionately shouldered by children and adolescents, indigenous communities, low-income populations, and already vulnerable groups (such as those with serious mental illness).
“While climate change affects everyone’s ability to thrive, underserved populations are more vulnerable to climate impacts—including mental health impacts—and have fewer available resources to adapt to the changing climate,” says Cohen.
“We need healthy, happy, and supportive people who have access to the environment, who cannot just see the value of nature but also in preserving it for current and future generations in light of the climate emergency.”
“We need healthy, happy, and supportive people who have access to the environment—whether poor, middle-class, or well-off, and living in the city, the suburbs or the countryside—who cannot just see the value of nature but also in preserving it for current and future generations in light of the climate emergency,” Goodman emphasizes.
Following research exploring the effects of climate change on child and adolescent mental health, Hwong reports “on the power of youth climate activism, particularly, as a proactive and powerful response to climate change.” However, there are caveats, Hwong says: People need to ask about who is engaged in protecting the environment, what resources do they need, and what are the top priorities to address.
A sense of the intrinsic value of nature is particularly critical for children and young people to support them in a time of climate emergency and crisis, Goodman says. It also promotes the development of an environmental ethic crucial for maintaining the planet’s health.
Combatting Despair
Around the globe, organizations are working collaboratively to help heal communities and the planetary environment.
Health Care Without Harm believes health care needs to move upstream to address the social and environmental conditions affecting people’s health. The Climate Psychiatry Alliance is a group of mental health providers who educate about the climate change crisis and its impacts on mental health.
The Carbon Almanac, a collaborative book project by 300 writers, strives to help combat climate despair and promote positive well-being. Community organizations, such as Toronto's shared space, The Bentway, create a shared sense of action through community events.
“Collective climate action comes from those who have the mental and physical capacity to work for and support changes, so positive mental and physical health is crucial to the climate movement,” Goodman concludes.
*Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe is a freelance journalist and editor. Over the past 10 years, Natasha has reported for a host of publications, exploring the wider world and industries from environmental, scientific, business, legal, and sociological perspectives. Natasha has also been interviewed as an insight provider for research institutes and conferences.
Editorial notes
Sources: Interviews with Michael Goodman, Professor of Environment and Development/Human Geography, University of Reading, UK. Interview insights from Gary Cohen, cofounder and president of Health Care Without Harm. Interview insights from Dr. Alison Hwong, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.