Social Structures
Authors: Dr Tadhg MacIntyre, Assistant Professor, Maynooth University (MU) Department of Psychology, Scientific Coordinator of the H2020 Project GoGreenRoutes, Assisting Living and Learning Institute (ALL), and Dr Annalisa Setti, University College Cork (UCC), Member of GoGreenRoutes’ Advisory Board.
“We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it”, Barack Obama, 43rd President of the United States.
In this blog, Dr Tadhg MacIntyre (MU) and Dr Annalisa Setti (UCC) outline some of the known and unknown impacts of climate change on mental health.
1. Known Knowns: Climate Change Solutions
Climate change has consequences for our mental health in both the short-term (e.g. extreme climatic events) and long-term (e.g. existential threat), ranging from trauma to anxiety. How we cope with the challenge of climate change has implications for our ability to generate, engage with and promote solutions. Getting a handle on what some term the climate ‘emergency’ should be seen in the context of how we cope with other interlinked issues – all of which can potentially benefit from our attempts to mitigate climate change impacts. Biodiversity loss, obesity, sedentary behaviour, isolation and nature disconnection are not entirely unrelated from climate change issues.
As psychologists, we know language matters. In terms of the climate issue, are we talking about catastrophe, crisis or challenge? Overwhelming people with a narrative grounded in negative emotions will impede people’s capacity to act. Based on what we know of environmental psychology, it is essential to use language that is motivating, that draws people in, and that empowers them. With the learnings of a Century of psychology, we can promote “learned optimism” to counteract learned helplessness in the face of climate catastrophe.
2. Known Unknowns: Eco-Anxiety
Among the terms used to describe the psychological impact of climate change are ecological grief, eco-angst, environmental distress, solastalgia, eco-anger, and eco-anxiety. The latter term, eco-anxiety, refers to mental distress linked both with climate change and reduced nature. As outlined by Coffey, this term can include chronic fear of environmental doom, mental distress in response to the ecological crisis, and anxiety that is also experienced by people who have not directly experienced ecological disasters.
To date, we do not have a clear understanding of the term eco-anxiety. One possibility is the degree to which it can be viewed in the context of other existential threats. In the past, the fear and anxiety of nuclear war, termed nuclear anxiety, was investigated among young people, producing similar findings in terms of hopelessness and stress. The relative contribution of different sources of fear, anxiety and stress, from the housing crisis to climate challenges, offers a more balanced assessment of the situation and the potential pathways for coping.
Accumulating evidence suggests that climate change impacts are being felt by large proportions of young people around the world. Large-scale surveys demonstrate that the psychological (emotional, cognitive, social, and functional) burdens of climate change are being felt by large proportions of young people around the world. However, the recent EPA survey on climate change in Ireland reported that two out of every 5 people were ‘very worried’ about the impact of climate change and this was relatively consistent across adult age-groups, including older adults.
While visiting nature often provides positive impact, an interesting finding emerged from the NatureWatch citizen science project in UCC. The project supported participants to use technology to observe and capture nature changes over the seasons (e.g. by creating an image library) to boost wellbeing, findings were largely supportive. However, interviews highlighted that some participants reported that observing and capturing the current state of natural settings (e.g. parks with only grass areas) made them anxious as it raised their awareness of biodiversity loss.
3. Next Steps: From Anxiety to Action
In the GoGreenRoutes project, we explore eco-anxiety across six European Cities, including Limerick, not just applying survey methods, but by exploring converging evidence from walking interviews and sleep patterns. Walking interviews in parks will facilitate access to broader, more inclusive and diverse samples, and provide a window into the meaning behind peoples’ perceptions of nature and climate change. Sleep is an indicator of anxiety and readily measured using both subjective and objective tools (e.g. accelerometers). We will explore how people cope with climate anxiety to understand more about the potential solutions.
One key question is if people are struggling with climate anxiety, what should they focus on? The Australian Psychological Society has established guidelines to help cope with eco-anxiety.
- Take Action- Try to engage in pro-environmental behaviours, leading by example, voice your concerns, protest, and become an advocate for change.
- Take a break- Try to turn off a 24/7 news feed on this topic and ensure you have time to decompress from the stress you feel.
- Focus on key issues- Choose to explore problems ideally where you can contribute to the solutions. If air pollution is an issue for you then engaging in tree planting with others can help.
- Connect with others- Sharing your voice and connecting with others who share your concerns can provide you with access to social support and help you create a realistic appraisal.
In real terms, there are many opportunities for action in Ireland –leading a citizens science campaign in your locality, signing up to citizen science initiatives or becoming a An Taisce Climate Ambassador. Monitoring your news intake is important as is choosing your sources wisely. Follow journalists reporting on the topic and read beyond the headline, as you will realise the real story is often less bleak than the headline. Learning about the solutions can help you change how you think about the challenges. For example, many climate mitigating initiatives also support human and environmental health. Nature-based solutions which involve working with nature to address societal challenges, providing benefits for both human well-being and biodiversity, include re-naturing cities, with benefits for urban climate, health and the environment.
One of the most profound impacts of any problem is feeling that you alone are a victim. Reaching out to others can help normalise the problem. Unfortunately, climate change undermines access to the full range of human rights and its most extreme consequences will be felt most among those citizens who often have the least amount of resources. According to Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, “when it comes to the effects of climate change, there has been nothing but chronic injustice and the corrosion of human rights.” We all have a shared mandate to protect and restore nature, engage in climate action and ensure all our human rights are respected.
Conclusions
It is vital for each of us to create our own narrative to cope with the current threat and future potential climate and ecosystem challenges. Sharing our narrative can shape our coping and it is worth reflecting on how others are coping and listening to their perspectives. Promoting discourse about our emotional response to the challenges we face is a pathway to resilience. Undoubtedly, to deal with the challenge of climate change requires unprecedented societal transformations within a short time frame. Psychology has an important role to play in informing this transformation.
At the Department of Psychology at Maynooth University, our MSc. in Environmental Psychology aims to upskill graduates to help address key questions we have raised here about mental health and climate change. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, so we need to apply an evidence-based approach building on previous literature in psychology, to understand both how we can best contribute to climate change solutions and understand more clearly the psychological consequences of climate change. Hopefully, by learning from the lessons of the past we can all, to paraphrase US President Joe Biden, become “nostalgic for the future.”
Funding Acknowledgement: The GoGreenRoutes Project is supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 869764.