Climate change can intensify stress and anxiety and significantly impact an individual’s and the community’s mental health. In fact:
1) Vulnerable populations (those who are low-income, BIPOC, homeless, pregnant, and the elderly) carry a greater burden of the impacts of climate change and the accompanying mental health risk.
2) Young people are especially affected by climate change’s mental health impacts. A 2021 global survey of 10,000 youth from ages 16-25 showed that more than 56% feel that “humanity is doomed” because of climate change.
3) Up to 54% of adults and 45% of children suffer depression after a natural disaster.
However, our panelists lift up the research demonstrating that taking action and building resilience, both individually and collectively, can help mitigate the negative mental health impacts of climate change, and how the faith community can be an especially effective ally in this work.
PANELISTS:
Dr. Jyoti Mishra, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego
Sarah Newman, Executive Director, Climate Mental Health Network
(Full bios available here)