“It’s Not Just You”: the Impacts of Climate Change on Mental Health

Contributors: Bailey Fullwiler, Nobi Kennedy, Kelly Morton, Bamidele Osamika, Leah Ross, Mitch Singstock, and Savannah Sullivan

This piece is part of Green Umbrella’s 2024 PSA Campaign on climate health impacts, highlighting a recent report done with Scioto Analysis which was supported in part by a bi3, HealthPath, and Interact for Health Data for Equity Grant.

The impact of climate change can be seen in a photograph – a neighborhood decimated by flooding, a field struck with dust and drought, eggs cooking on pavement during a heat wave – but an impact that isn’t easily captured in a snapshot is the toll climate change takes on mental health. 

Whether they’re the result of specific, climate-related events or ongoing, chronic conditions, mental health illnesses are triggered and compounded by climate change. With climate events occurring with more frequency, there is unfortunately more opportunity to study the social and psychological effects of climate trauma. But despite the challenges, there is hope: there are many things we can do as a community and as individuals to help mitigate how climate change impacts mental health.

Disasters & Depression

Acute climate events lead to increased rates of a wide range of negative mental health outcomes such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and major and persistent depressive disorders. Research from the American Public Health Association has found that up to 54% of adults and 45% of children suffer depression after a disaster. These might include events like tornadoes, landslides, extreme flooding, and more.

Long-term weather changes like droughts or heat waves also threaten people’s livelihoods. During the 1980s Farm Crisis, caused by economic policies and exacerbated by a record-breaking drought, over 900 farmers across the Midwest died by suicide. Farmers across Ohio continue to document among the highest rates of suicide across the state due in part to an uncertain future from climate change. These impacts are happening close to home and require urgent attention. 

Grieving for the Climate

Solastalgia is a feeling of distress caused by changes to or the loss of one’s home or land. It is also known as climate grief or ecological grief; those who experience this mourn the destruction of the environment – or they dread its seemingly imminent destruction. David Shearman, Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Adelaide and co-founder of Doctors for the Environment Australia, described his own solastalgia in The Guardian, detailing recurring nightmares after the catastrophic 2019-2020 Australian bushfires: 

“I am walking in a forest overwhelmed by giant blackened trees and bushes contorted in the throes of death. In this graveyard, a thick covering of fine, white ash muffles all sound like snow, “and no birds sing”; the sun is shining but the sky is grey. I awake in distress and ruminate for hours on the implications and the many other climate and environmental portents.”

In national surveys, the majority of Americans state that they are worried about climate change, particularly in younger age groups. In a recent study, nearly 60% of 1,000 surveyed US adolescents reported anxiety about climate change, and nearly half believe that “humanity is doomed.” Climate change creates chronic stress, increasing feelings of hopelessness.

Rising Temperatures Raise Tension

Heat waves – abnormally high temperatures lasting at least two days – stretch every part of society, from straining electrical grids to exhausting social services and more. While cardiovascular events, heat stroke, and sun poisoning are clear signs of the increased heat, mental health too suffers as temperature rises. 

When heat waves increase, so do hospitalizations from mental illness. During extreme heat waves, depression symptoms worsen; aggressive behavior is exacerbated, leading to more incidences of crime and domestic violence; and the rate of suicide attempts and deaths increases. Higher temperatures means that quality of sleep suffers, leading to more acute mental illness symptoms. Some psychiatric medications’ effectiveness is reduced. Those with mental illness, who are more likely to live in poverty and/or have concurrent substance abuse issues, are often less able to make changes that help make the heat more bearable (staying indoors, utilizing air conditioning, swimming or taking cold showers, etc.)

As our region continues to warm, heat waves will become more common, increasing mental health emergencies in inequitable ways. 

All Is Not Lost: Practical Optimism

Despair toward climate change can be a self-fulfilling prophecy: as despair leads to inaction, inaction contributes to climate change. To combat climate grief, we can start by reframing the problem: addressing climate change is the opportunity of a lifetime. By transitioning to abundant, renewable energy, we can promote equity, save lives, and heal our planet. 

Don’t let the rough headlines deter you; we still have much to be optimistic about. For example: 

• Technologies that support climate efforts like electric vehicles, solar panels, and heat pumps are becoming better, cheaper, and more accessible than ever. 
• The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 became the most significant climate legislation in U.S. history (so far!), offering millions of dollars in funding, tax credits, and other incentives to drive a green-energy economy. 
• At the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) in 2023, delegates agreed to create a loss and damage fund to support the nations most vulnerable to climate change.

As individuals, we can start by practicing hope. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, avoid the negative headlines and search for the good climate news – it’s out there, and there’s more of it every day.

Treating Climate Grief

Climate grief can be isolating, so it’s important to remember that you are not alone. Therapists can provide an excellent support system for navigating the daily and existential challenges of confronting climate change. Mental health professionals are increasingly trained to grapple with climate issues with their clients. That said, some providers may feel ill-prepared to discuss climate change with patients. If that’s the case, you can start by sharing how to incorporate resilience training and empowerment into mental health care with your existing or new provider. Care providers can also connect with the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America or other support groups to provide holistic climate-based mental health care. By focusing on climate change as a solvable problem, younger generations can learn to be hopeful instead of helpless. 

One of the best cures for climate grief is action, and it doesn’t have to be big! Start small with personal goals that feel achievable for your lifestyle. Using less plastic, driving less, eating less red meat, or writing to your local politician are all excellent first steps on your journey. Don’t try to change everything – like New Year’s resolutions, if you try to make too many new habits at once, you’re not going to stick with them. “How do you eat an elephant?” One bite at a time!

We can anticipate a changing future by building more resilient, cohesive communities. By preparing for disasters, we can mitigate their effects and build community adaptation strategies through community engagement, affordable mental health care, and trauma-informed care following natural disasters. Community support networks lessen the chronic stress of climate change, especially for younger generations, and they’re a great way to improve your mental health around climate change. Become engaged with your sustainability community and connect with organizations like Green Umbrella, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, Queen City Commons, Groundwork Ohio River Valley, Ohio River Foundation, the Boone Conservancy, or other great local organizations. 

You can also foster an online community to engage with others around climate change. Some options include Climate Circle, Climate Grief Groups, and Good Grief Network. Climate and Mind includes information on many climate organizations involved in mental health and details on mental health professionals who specialize in eco-anxiety and climate grief. 

It’s never too late to seek help for yourself and others. The Disaster Distress Helpline 1-800-985-5990, is a 24/7, 365-day-a-year, national hotline dedicated to providing immediate crisis counseling for people who are experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster. (Disponible en español and available in ASL video call)

If you are struggling with suicidal ideation, call or send a text to 988. The 988 Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free, confidential emotional support to those in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. (Disponible en español and available in ASL video call) 

We’re In This Together

We can all support each other by discussing these issues and how they make us feel. Cultivate spaces, whether in-person or online, where you can be open and vulnerable. And, whenever possible, spend more time in the outdoor spaces that rejuvenate you. Taking breaks from social media, apps, and other anxieties of modern life will give your body and mind a rest. Engage in nature therapy, find peace in natural spaces, and build gratitude for our natural world and personal resilience. 

Learn More

Watch the recording of the first installment of the Climate Health Public Service Announcement Webinar Series, Changing Climate & Our Mental Health, on YouTube. Guest speakers include Dr. Nzingha Dalila EdD, LPCC-S, LCDC-III – Clinical Counselor and Clinical Instructor at University of Cincinnati and Bailey Fullwiler, MSSA, LSW – Ohio Regional Organizer at Climate Reality Project. This webinar was originally recorded on February 23, 2024.

Resources

Infographics – download and share!

Finding a Provider: 

• The Climate Psychiatry Alliance – This organization provides articles, resources, and contact information for finding well-informed therapists.
• International Community for Ecopsychology – This organization provides blog posts, research articles, and contact information for finding well-informed therapists.
• Climate Psychology Alliance – This organization provides education for the general public and media on the intersection of climate change and mental health, offers cafe-style groups for supporting individuals, and hosts a climate-aware counselor directory.

Education and Peer Support:

• Good Grief Network – This group offers support groups, education and training to help navigate feelings of loss and mental health distress around climate change and justice. 
• All We Can Save – In addition to being a great collection of stories, this project also provides resources for understanding climate emotions, a model for creating circles of care, and guidance on how to integrate this knowledge into your personal and collective work.
• Work That Reconnects Us – Based on the leadership and scholarship of Joanna Macy, this organization groups a wide directory of resources for somatic and cultural practices for navigating climate stressors; regular small group opportunities; webinars and training; and blog posts and podcasts.
• Climate Awakening – This group offers support groups for climate emotions, regular publications/news articles, and a climate emotions self-help book.
• Climate Mental Health Network – This group acts as a convener of climate mental health resources. They have a joint-published k-12 curriculum, creative arts for climate emotions, a gen-z advisory board, and regular events.

Book Recommendations:

• Active Hope: How to Face The Mess We’re In Without Going Crazy by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone 
• Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change by Leslie Davenport 
• Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future by Mary Robinson 
• Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis by Britt Wray 
• A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety by Sarah Jaquette Ray 
• All the Feelings Under the Sun: How to Deal with Climate Change by Leslie Davenport and Jessica Smith 
• Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World by Glenn Albrecht 

Social Media Accounts to Follow:

• @allwecansave – Facebook, X, and Instagram
• @goodgriefnetwork – X and Instagram
• @grist – Facebook, X, and Instagram
• @ecoanxious – Instagram
• @climatementalhealth – Instagram
• @gen_dread – Instagram
• @climatepsychiatryalliance – Facebook
• @climate.psychology.alliance – Instagram