It’s currently Mental Health Awareness Week here in the UK. Something I’ve been wondering about recently, is wether the effects of climate change, or even the idea of climate change, can manifest itself in the form of mental health problems in humans in every day life. Are we all becoming more depressed or anxious as a result of the earth dying? I mean, we see countless posts online about the latest animal to go extinct, or the amount of plastic in the sea, or the food and water crisis, the list goes on. We’re bombarded with information that can be very worrying, so in that case, developing ‘climate anxiety’ would make sense, right?
I know the imminent threat of global warming and mass extinction is a constant worry in my mind. But is it causing me to be more stressed as I go about my daily life, even if I’m not thinking about it in that moment?
My guess is yes. But of course I have no evidence. So I needed to do a bit of research, and here’s what I have found…
Climate anxiety, is it a thing?
It turns out, yes, climate anxiety, or eco-anxiety, is actually a thing. Susan Clayton, a psychology professor at the College of Wooster has been studying eco-anxiety for a while now. She says “we can say that a significant proportion of people are experiencing stress and worry about the potential impacts of climate change, and that the level of worry is almost certainly increasing.”
How does it work?
Well, when we get stressed, it is our body’s way of dealing with situations that we feel are threatening. Certain hormones are released which trigger responses from our cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems. It makes us hyper-alert and ready to fight. Evolutionarily speaking, this would be useful in small doses. However, when that stress level remains high on a longer-term basis, that is when we begin to develop mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
Now when applying this knowledge to a climate change context, you start to get the emergence of terms like “climate anxiety” “eco-anxiety” “solastalgia” – which all similarly mean “the distress that is produced by environmental change”
Another article introduces the term “environmental melancholia” . Which is explained by Renee Lertzman, a psychologist who studies the mental and emotional dimensions of climate change. She says that many people are caught in “a state of arrested mourning,” and believes few people have managed to process their grief about the slow decay of life on Earth.
Lertzman continues: “The reason why, I think, we have a pervasive environmental melancholia is directly related to the fact that we’re not really talking about this.”
Being a relatively new concept, experts are still learning how to lessen the effects of climate change related anxieties.
How can climate change impact mental health?
Climate change is bringing about more physical environmental stressors such as rising seawaters, increasingly strong storms, hotter heat waves and more ferocious droughts. But also the increase in occurrence of natural disasters, like floods and hurricanes. People can lose their homes, their jobs, their family members, and their communities.
It’s no surprise that as a consequence of this, people can development Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Not only that, but as one article highlights, “pre-traumatic” stress disorder is a very real effect too. Even with people who haven’t first handedly experienced extreme weathers or environmental disasters, the sheer knowledge that it is happening can cause mental health issues too.
In other words, pre-traumatic stress is contributing to an increase in moderate to extreme anxiety about a looming crisis.
When it comes to climate anxiety, the BBC has an informative article (here) and video (here). They explain that indeed, many people are panicking about the state of the earth’s climate. However they feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the issue, and powerless as just one person against a planet of billions.
According to Anxiety UK, more than 1 in 10 British adults are likely to experience a “disabling anxiety disorder” during the course of their life.
But the problem of anxiety about of climate will not improve if people are paralysed by fear. Psychology and climate change author, Professor Janet Swim, says: “Anxiety is something people feel more and more when they get closer to an anti-goal, meaning a negative result, like the destruction of the planet.”
Owen Gaffney, a co-author of a paper believes that people needn’t feel hopeless about the situation and that individual choices DO have a positive impact on the planet!
He states: “The science is loud, clear and simple: we need to halve global emissions of greenhouse gases by 2030. All the solutions exist to do that, and if we implement them then more people will be living in cleaner cities, eating healthy diets and working in resilient, buoyant economies.”
Furthermore, Clayton suggests that staying informed about climate change is important because it makes it more concrete and less the scary monster under the bed, “A monster under the bed is scary because you don’t look at it; finding out about things makes them more manageable.”
The fear of the unknown is something that can only be combatted by seeking information and solutions, not by hiding away from our problems.
What actions can we take?
As the BBC article suggests:
“firstly we must make climate change a factor in the decisions we make every day. Decisions such as what we eat, how we travel, and what we buy.
Secondly, we need to talk about climate change with our friends, family and colleagues.
Finally, we must demand that politicians and companies make it easier and cheaper to do the right thing for the climate.”
- Recognise the situation and talk about it with friends
- Get professional help like counselling
- Put the feeling in its place – Remember, worry is just a feeling and not a fact!
- Join a climate change group (such as beach/woodland cleans).
- Help to raise awareness of climate change (sharing articles, creating resources, word of mouth).
- Encourage local politicians and companies to take action (write letters to them or peaceful protest).
- Adopt a plant-based diet. Or at least reduced meat consumption.
- Cut down on carbon emissions (by cycling/walking/car sharing).
- Reuse what you can.
- look after yourself – Remember to take care of yourself so that you can take care of your planet.
Final thoughts from me
We don’t want the media to NOT tell the public about climate change, equally, we don’t want the media to contribute to increased mental illnesses in the general public. However as individuals, I believe that the more information we have about this environmental fight, the closer we will feel to having a solution, and so the closer we will feel towards hope. There is no question that communicating information about climate change is vital – yet If we can’t instil hope through our messages, and we can’t motivate our readers whom may be experiencing anxieties and fear- then we stand a much smaller chance of making a difference.
Look after yourself
If you think you may be suffering from a mental health disorder, check out the charity MIND for free help and support. The NHS also offers advice on treatments for Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and medication.
2018. Nexus Media. [Online]. [17 May 2019]. Available from: https://nexusmedianews.com/uncovering-the-mental-health-crisis-of-climate-change-88cd35a1293c
2019. Plantbasednewsorg. [Online]. [17 May 2019]. Available from: https://www.plantbasednews.org/post/growing-concerns-for-planet-eco-anxiety