How Climate Change affects our Mental Health

Managing your feelings - Emotions

Four out of ten people between the ages of 16 and 25 worldwide are hesitant about whether to have children due to the climate crisis (The Lancet).

by Amina Settouf

Most of you may have heard of Fridays for Future, which is a movement, led and organised by the youth in our world. It started in August 2018 when the 15-year-old Greta Thunberg and other young activists sat in front of the Swedish parliament every school day for three weeks, to protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis.

The movement grew rapidly, until more than 14,000,000 people in 7,500 cities, all over the world began to take part in the protests (FridaysForFuture). Five years later, in 2023, people of all ages gathered on the occasion of the global climate strike to call on the world and business leaders to take urgent action.

Greta Thunberg in Berlin

© dpa

The Ecopolis Social Center of Thessaloniki decided to take this instant to organise a Week For The Future, taking place from 28.02.23 to 04.03.23 to provide a week-long activities aiming to raise awareness and inspire behavioral change concerning climate issues.

As climate change is a topic that all of us face nowadays, we know that the change in climate has and especially will have profound effects. The UN calls out climate change as a global emergency that goes beyond borders. Ice sheets and glaciers are melting, the sea level rises, wildfires and droughts are occurring and getting more intense - natural catastrophes in all magnitudes are happening now and concern all living creatures over the planet. As long as humans add greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere, the irreversible effects of global warming will worsen (Climate NASA).

Climate Strike

© rnd.de

Taking this as a glimpse into our future, you may have found yourself feeling hopeless when thinking about the climate crisis. Have you ever found yourself feeling nervous, worried, scared, and helpless thinking about what the future holds for us? The environment psychologist Thomas Doherty calls this climate anxiety. It is not a mental illness. Rather it is anxiety rooted in uncertainty about the future and alerting us to the dangers of a changing climate (Health Harvard). Climate anxiety is a real issue that more and more people experience nowadays. More than half of children and young adults are afraid of the climate crisis - so much so that it negatively affects their everyday lives. This is the conclusion of the largest scientific study to date on climate anxiety among young people. The survey included 10,000 young people aged 16-25 from Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Portugal, the UK, and the US (The Lancet).

The majority of young people are afraid of the future

75 percent agreed with the statement “The future is scary”, and more than half think they have fewer opportunities than their parents. Young people feel worried or anxious about the climate in a way that affects their daily lives and functioning. Many feel fear, anger, despair, sadness, and shame. The negative view of the future also influences personal decisions: Four out of ten people between the ages of 16 and 25 worldwide are hesitant about whether to have children due to the climate crisis.

Signs

© fridaysforfuture.org

Respondents: Responsibility also lies with governments

The inaction of their own governments is responsible for their fear: More than half of the surveillants believe that governments are not doing enough to prevent a climate catastrophe. They don’t believe that governments are protecting them, our planet, or future generations. 58 percent of the young people said they felt betrayed by the older generation and governments.

The study shows that anxiety about the planetary crisis is very high, not only are we witnessing devastating climate disasters, but anxiety is also linked to how frequently governments fail to act decisively and effectively to stop the crisis. Caroline Hickman (University of Bath) designates eco-anxiety as a “completely rational and normal reaction”.

SOS signs

© bravajulia

If climate anxiety is a condition affecting mental health, then how do we deal with it? Remember that you are not alone. There are a lot of other people who might feel the same way you do. Create space to talk about climate change, specifically about the feelings it causes in you and others. Listen to how other people feel and take their feelings seriously. It is completely normal to feel this way. Be aware that it’s not all on you. There’s only so much one person can do, and while individual action does have an impact, this is a collective responsibility. Take action and support other people to do likewise, however small the impact may feel to you. And don’t forget to take care of yourself physically and emotionally.