The connection between climate change and mental health

Anthropogenic climate change, the way humans are impacting the earth’s climate, is an urgent threat to life on this planet. The World Meteorological Organization advises that the world is now likely to hit the watershed 1.5°C rise in global warming within the next five years (United Nations, 2021).

Sometimes missing from discussions about the effects of climate change is the ways it can directly and indirectly affect mental health. Extreme weather and natural disasters can have a detrimental impact on survivors’ mental health (Clayton et al., 2017). Heat waves have negative effects on wellbeing and mood, exacerbating existing mental health issues (Cianconi et al., 2020). Other weather conditions such as humidity, floods, droughts, and wildfires, all made more frequent and severe due to climate change, have also been found to negatively impact mental health and make existing issues worse (Charlson et al., 2021). Changes in habitats and ecosystems will lead to an increasing number of people migrating to more livable and safer areas (Padhy et al., 2015). Migration can be associated with acculturation stress, particularly if it’s not voluntary and people must urgently relocate (Padhy et al., 2015).

Climate change also indirectly affects mental health. It can increase feelings of stress, concern, or dread about the climate crisis (sometimes referred to as eco-anxiety) (Heinz et al., 2024). Climate change will also worsen existing economic and social inequities and discrimination, with the worst effects shouldered by already marginalised populations (Heinz et al., 2024). Other indirect consequences include the increased occurrence of environmental, social, and economic upset, including famine and civil conflicts, all which negatively impact the physical and mental health of people (Hayes et al., 2018).

The ways in which climate change impacts mental health manifest on a global scale, as well as in individual therapy rooms. Psychotherapists see the impact of climate change in their therapy sessions. A recent study by Trost et al. (2024) found that the majority of the psychotherapists they surveyed had clients who expressed concern about climate change during their sessions. Understanding the ways in which the impacts of climate change can be explored in psychotherapy is an emerging area of research which will become increasingly important to developing training and continuing professional development (CPD).

UKCP is a member of the Climate Minds Coalition, a group of leading UK mental health and professional organisations representing practitioners, service users and policy experts. The coalition aims to amplify the sector’s united professional voice to UK policymakers, parliamentarians, the media and the public on climate emergency and mental health. The Coalition has released a statement on the impact of climate change and mental health, which can be found on their website.

References

• Charlson, F., Ali, S., Benmarhnia, T., Pearl, M., Massazza, A., Augustinavicius, J., & Scott, J. G. (2021). Climate change and mental health: a scoping review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(9), 4486.
• Cianconi, P., Betrò, S., & Janiri, L. (2020). The impact of climate change on mental health: a systematic descriptive review. Frontiers in psychiatry, 11, 490206.
• Clayton, S., Manning, C., Krygsman, K., & Speiser, M. (2017). Mental health and our changing climate: Impacts, implications, and guidance. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association and ecoAmerica.
• Hayes, K., Blashki, G., Wiseman, J., Burke, S., & Reifels, L. (2018). Climate change and mental health: risks, impacts and priority actions. International journal of mental health systems, 12, 1-12.
• Heinz, A., & Brandt, L. (2024). Climate change and mental health: direct, indirect, and intersectional effects. The Lancet Regional Health–Europe.
• Padhy, S. K., Sarkar, S., Panigrahi, M., & Paul, S. (2015). Mental health effects of climate change. Indian journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 19(1), 3-7.
• Trost, K., Ertl, V., König, J., Rosner, R., & Comtesse, H. (2024). Climate change-related concerns in psychotherapy: therapists’ experiences and views on addressing this topic in therapy. BMC psychology, 12(1), 192.
• United Nations. (2021). World now likely to hit watershed 1.5 °C rise in next five years. UN News global perspective human stories. Available at: https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/05/1092842. (Accessed: 19 January 2022).