Reports Show That Climate Change May Be Linked to Decline in Mental Health

Image of children in India fighting city air pollution

Imagine your child growing up in a world where heat and humidity melt their joy away. Your child may feel anxious and obsessed over the news on how climate change is destroying our planet. While the debate of how much climate change has impacted our planet remains ongoing, there are recent reports from well-known organizations claiming there is a correlation between changes in behavior with changes of temperature as well as atmospheric cleanliness. And the most interesting aspect about these claims is that human’s mental deterioration has already begun.

    A relationship was found between an increase in temperature and a rate of suicide. In a peer-reviewed journal, every increase in -1°C (1°F) resulted in a 1.3% increase in suicides in the U.S, and a 2.1% increase in Mexico. According to an article from the Guardian, if the temperature goes up the way analysts have projected it to, then 9,000-40,000 additional suicides are predicted to occur from now until 2050. The World Health Organization (WHO) is an international organization that consists of researchers around the world pertaining to health and its relationship to the world released this statement through its brief about the relationship between climate change and mental health "Some people experience feelings of loss, helplessness, and frustration because they feel unable to stop climate change or make a difference" Hopelessness is a big factor in depression and humans feeling hopeless about the outcome of the planet can lead to people thinking life can only get worse

    Along with depression, there has also been reports of increases of crime in reaction to changes in temperature. A research team led by a professor from Princeton University conducted an investigation regarding a correlation between changes in climate to increase of violence. Results found that seasonal patterns can indicate the level of 
violence within the climatic area. "The study concluded that even slight departures from 'average temperatures or rainfall amounts substantially increased the risk of conflict on a variety of levels, ranging from individual aggression, such as murder and rape, to country-level political instability and international wars'" With crime rate being a problem in the United States to begin with, these reports are now claiming that these rates will only get worse. With a combination of irritability and possibly lack of essential resources, these could be future motives that spark an increase in crime

    Many people seemed to be concerned or even scared about the future of our planet. An article from The Guardian relates climate change to anxiety: "Anxiety about the future is also harming people’s mental health, especially the young, the scientists said in a report." And the following study has proved that this anxiety is real. An international survey took samples from citizens in multiple countries around the world and a majority of these countries shared the same opinions. The graph shows that every country had half of its respondents reply very worried or somewhat worried about climate change.  Another graph from the same review journal showed that 48% of Americans believe that climate change will harm that person specifically. The World Health Organization released a press statement saying..."Individuals and communities may experience many intense emotions in the face of a changing climate, including sadness, fear, despair, helplessness and grief" While concern may not be the same as anxiety, worse progression of our planet combined with lack of action will make this concern turn into more stress, which most of us already have in our daily life. This could be comparable to war veterans who suffer from dramatic times during wars.

    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is when someone keeps reliving a horrific disaster in his or her life. Severe weathering such as climate change and hurricanes can cause this mental illness. And apparently, according to a survey, post-traumatic stress disorder is the most common mental illness to get after a weather disaster. A survey was conducted to 8,000 people in areas of flooding. Results were based on how affected the individual was and how much emotional damage it was predicted to cause. Looking at the graph, most people experiencing a disaster are most vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder, followed by anxiety and depression. In this case, most flood victims would re-live the moment during certain times, such as maybe where they were in the storm or whenever it is raining.

    The republican party has a history of rejecting climate change and its possible effects, but this is slowly changing. A recent poll shows that 40% of registered republicans express concern over climate change and its potential hazards. Under the Trump administration, 17 republican politicians in the house of representatives urged for a conservative approach on resolving the climate's problems. Readers may claim that they are not feeling mental illness due to climate change or any mental illness at all. The reality of the situation, however, is that most of the world lives under third-world countries. Countries such as India are battling aridity in the spring and excessive heat in the summer while still needing to grow crops to maintain a staggering growth in human population. Many countries do not have the type of economy to pay for damaged produced by other countries creating high amounts of emissions. In an interview, Ian Fry, Special Rapporteur on climate said the following about Bangladesh, a third-world country he visited after a climatic disaster. "I was recently in Bangladesh and saw firsthand the impacts of climate change. And it's unfair for countries like Bangladesh to have to deal with the cost of climate change on their own, which is not of their own making. So, the most vulnerable countries produce the least amount of emissions, yet they're paying the cost of the damage from climate change".

    It is time to start considering the consequences of climate change for the sake of helping the wellbeing of our future generations.