Resilience for the Planet and the People

Every 40 seconds, someone commits suicide. Last year, more than 800,000 people were so despondent that they took their own lives. The causes are complex and multi-determined. The World Health Organization estimates that more than one-half have no diagnosis of mental illness. What might be other contributing factors? Climate change, for one.

One need only see the massive destruction in the pathways of Hurricane Ian to recognize the impacts of climate change. Extreme weather is more frequent and more devastating. Climate change affects not only place but also people and their mental health.

Climate change affects mental health directly by exposing people to severe and sustained trauma, sleep disruption, heat stress, and risk of substance use, post-traumatic stress disorder, and cognitive deterioration. These climate and weather-related events may result in injury or death, property damage, homelessness, or forced migration. This kind of chronic stress, itself, is a major risk factor for mental illness. I see in my own students and children, concerns about climate change resulting in eco-anxiety; they worry about rising temperatures and sea levels and imagine a dystopian world with limited opportunities.

Climate change also affects mental health indirectly. For example, climate change and extreme weather impact physical health, increasing the risk of pre-term birth, asthma, heart attacks, strokes, and infectious disease. In turn, these are associated with anxiety and depression. It can be a vicious cycle with poor physical health resulting in mental distress, and mental distress worsening susceptibility to physical disease or diminishing the likelihood of recovery.

Those most affected by climate change and the risk of mental illness are those most vulnerable due to pre-existing conditions, poverty, and sustained inequality based on social class, race, and place. I worry especially about young children and older adults who are most susceptible to climate change and consequent distress given their dependence on others and lifelong exposure.

Recognizing the strong, yet often overlooked, association between climate change and mental health is appropriate on World Mental Health Day; in addition, neither climate change nor mental illness is inevitable. We have the tools to promote resilience, and strength in the face of adversity, for both the planet and its people. Scientists agree it’s real.

Climate-resilient development is possible. Governments can redouble efforts to assure integrated and robust infrastructure that withstands heightened pressures of rising temperatures and extreme weather. The recent US Climate Bill is the biggest investment in climate action to date, providing financial incentives for Americans to reduce our carbon emissions through home improvements and clean cars.

By reducing climate risks, these efforts can deliver co-benefits like improved mental health. Resilience should be cultivated by strengthening social support and neighborhood resources, teaching effective coping skills, building capacity for flexibility, goal setting, and taking action toward those goals. We cannot often control external events, though we can control our response by doing our best to take a longer-term view.