The climate crisis is also a mental health crisis. Psychologists
have known this for some time. But this week, preliminary findings from a massive new
study have revealed that global warming’s impact on young people’s
well-being is far more intense than anyone predicted. The worst part is that
the kids’ distress isn’t irrational: The problem lies with their governments. Climate distress has been a growing field of inquiry but, until now, low on quantitative research. This study’s scale was impressive: Researchers surveyed 10,000 people aged 16 to 25, in 10 countries (1,000 in each country) on their feelings about the climate crisis. The findings in
the study, which has not yet been peer reviewed but will eventually be
published in The Lancet, are harrowing: Over half the respondents think
“humanity is doomed,” while more than 45 percent reported that distress over
climate change affected their daily life and ability to function. While 84 percent of the young people surveyed were “at least moderately worried,” nearly 60 percent were “very or extremely worried,” and 75 percent felt that
the future was “frightening.” More than half felt sad, anxious, powerless,
helpless, and guilty about the climate. The feelings least reported were
optimism and indifference. During an
online panel discussion of the study Tuesday morning, one of the authors,
Caroline Hickman of the University of Bath, said that while the researchers had
assumed that young people were suffering over climate change, “we did not know
how much.”Depression, anxiety, and intense pessimism about the future
are sometimes seen by psychologists as pathological. Many young people in the
United States and elsewhere are treated for such feelings. Often, the goal of
treatment is to feel better, and in many cases it should be.But severe distress over climate change is not crazy. Arguably,
it’s a sign of sanity.But severe distress over climate change is not crazy. Arguably,
it’s a sign of sanity. Throughout Tuesday’s panel, researchers emphasized that
the feelings young people expressed in the study were rational. “This is an
emotionally mentally healthy response,” Hickman said of the distress the survey
revealed. Psychologists measure mental health in part according to how people
respond to external reality. “The external reality is increasingly
frightening,” said Hickman. “I would worry about people not having this
response.” There are good signs here: The widespread distress among the
study’s respondents suggests that as well as facing reality, young people are
having feelings about it that they’re able to express, rather than deny,
repress, or deflect. Climate anxiety also suggests a healthy level of connection
to the rest of society and to the world. Elouise Mayall, a co-author of the
paper who is also, at 23, part of the age group studied, said she suffers from
eco-anxiety “because I have empathy for people on the other side of the planet
that I don’t know.” Youth climate anxiety speaks to a level of global
citizenship that might surprise adults concerned about young people’s Instagram
narcissism (all those selfies!).But eco-anxiety isn’t only about the climate crisis itself;
it’s inherently political. In addition to the intensity and breadth of young
people’s climate distress, Hickman said, researchers were startled by how
strongly such feelings aligned with the respondents’ views of their
government’s response to the climate crisis. Many felt betrayed and let down by
their government’s inadequate responses. The more distressed they were about
the government’s lackadaisical policies, the more intense their climate
anxiety. On Tuesday’s call, several young climate activists
emphasized that point. Jennifer Uchendu, 29, a Nigerian activist and founder of
Susty Vibes, a social enterprise working to engage young people in sustainable
development projects in Africa, said, “We are planting trees and doing these
really nice things, and then there is government-backed tree felling and
deforestation.” Luisa Neubauer, 25, a founder of Fridays for Future Germany,
agreed, emphasizing, “The climate crisis itself is a burden we can handle. What
we cannot handle is the inaction of governments everywhere. It is unacceptable,
it is impossible to carry, knowing that our future is at stake, and our present
is at stake, knowing that we will spend every single living year within an
escalating climate crisis, with no government acting adequately.” Uchendu said
that for her, anxiety over government policy “inspires action on the one hand;
it also inspires feelings of powerlessness and overwhelm.”In Germany, climate activists say, none of the major
political parties, not even the Green Party, has a platform ambitious enough to
address the climate crisis. Six young people have been on hunger strike for two
weeks, demanding that the candidates running for chancellor meet with them
publicly. One of the activists told the BBC, “I
already told my parents and my friends there is a chance I won’t see them again.” Faced with widespread distress among young people, what can
adults do to help? Hickman says the study presents “an opportunity to validate
their feelings.” This means, listen, and tell the truth. We can’t offer false
reassurance. As adults, being confronted with young people’s distress can be
hard, and especially on this issue. Among those respondents who had talked with
other people about climate change, more than half reported being ignored or
dismissed. Says Hickman, “We struggle to hear these feelings because they can
make us feel very guilty.”But the best way to validate young people’s feelings is to
press our governments to address climate change. If the climate movement remains
primarily a youth movement, young people’s feelings of abandonment by older
generations will only get worse. Political engagement is the only solution, and
we can’t just leave it up to the kids. In that spirit, earlier this month longtime
climate activist and author Bill McKibben announced Third Act, a new effort to organize people
over 60 for “a fair and stable planet.”Six young people in Portugal are suing
33 countries in the European Court of Human Rights, charging that by
inaction on climate change, the governments have not done enough to protect
their physical and mental well-being. A lawyer on Tuesday’s call, Natasa
Mavronicola, who is also a human rights expert at the University of Birmingham,
said that the findings of the forthcoming Lancet study strengthen the
Portuguese young people’s case.On Tuesday’s call, young people emphasized that the media
needs to tell the truth about the severity of the climate crisis. But Jennifer
Uchendu also thought the “doom and gloom” of such reporting should be balanced
with coverage of solutions and of “what our communities are doing to find ways
to live with the climate crisis,” emphasizing that hope inspires us to act.
While Neubauer felt the severity of the crisis wasn’t covered adequately—climate,
she said, had for too long been a “side topic,” and the media had failed to hold
governments accountable for the crisis—she also agreed with Uchendu that
“reporting on the climate crisis is just part of the truth. The other part is
people rising up everywhere, taking the future into our own hands, and
realizing that it is in our own hands.”“I am hugely grateful to be part of a movement where people
turn their anxiety into action,” Neubauer added, encouraging listeners to join
the upcoming global climate strike
on September 25. “This shouldn’t be a moment for pity. The adequate
response to this study would be climate action. Someone said, ‘For children to
worry less, adults must worry more.’”
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