In 2022, twenty-three concerned young people aged 16-29 from fifteen countries published a "commentary" paper in the International Review of Psychiatry, reflecting on their common experience of the importance of mental health responses to climate change.

This paper was the result of an initiative led by James Diffey (UK, researcher at Imperial College's Climate Cares Centre), Sacha Wright (UK, public health researcher) and Jennifer Olachi Uchendu (Nigeria, co-founder of Sustyvibes and The Eco-anxiety Africa Project, also featured in WTFutures), with the help of one senior researcher, Emma Lawrance (Climate Cares Centre Lead at the Institute of Global Health Innovation within Imperial College, in London).

Most of the participants did not know each other before the project and were selected after an open call on social media, taking care to maximize geographic and age diversity. They worked together for several months, mostly online, designing a method where they would be "both the authors and subjects"and taking great care to acknowledge both the commonalities and the differences in their respective experiences and views.

Mental Health and Climate Change: an under-appreciated issue

The authors take a broad definition of mental health as "wellbeing, daily functioning and ability to cope with challenges in life and society", as opposed to the absence of a diagnosable disorder. Echoing a growing body of research (the paper contains numerous references), the participants say: "Despite our diversity, we share a wide range of deeply uncomfortable climate-related feelings, including worry, sorrow, grief, fear, anger, hopelessness and responsibility. These feelings tend to persist over time, increasing when we experience climate impacts, when we hear of them happening overseas, or when we are reminded of the inaction of political and corporate leaders."

These feelings are not abstract. For many co-authors, they can come from the first-hand realization that the place they grew up with may not be inhabitable anymore due to heat, draughts, floods, etc. Their effects are also very concrete: "Knowing how much unnecessary harm is being caused, we can find it difficult to engage with basic tasks such as relaxing, sleeping, studying or working. Some of us also struggle with exorbitant feelings of guilt about our carbon footprints (even in poorer countries with relatively small footprints such as Vietnam), despite our understanding that the structures and systems we live in make ethical choices extremely difficult. In the absence of meaningful ways to contribute to climate action at structural levels, it can be hard to know how to navigate our desire to help, and many of us can struggle with feelings of shame and frustration about this too. (...) We also debate with ourselves and our partners whether or not to have children, both because of the stress humanity is already putting upon the planet and because we are concerned about the quality of life our children may have." These feelings, they say, supported by a growing body of research, are shared by a large share of the world's youths.

In spite of this, the mental health implications of Climate Change remain understudied, under-appreciated in most of the circles working on climate issues. The initial response to these concerns has also, at times, been misdirected: "Mental health professionals must actively challenge the notion that the absence of uncomfortable feelings about the current state of the world (such as worry, sadness and frustration) is necessarily a sign of 'good mental health' and that the presence of these feelings suggests the presence of a 'disorder'. Indeed, the absence of strong feelings in response to upsetting global issues is more often a cause for psychotherapeutic concern than their presence"!

Emotions are not the opposite of actions

If taken seriously, "rather than being signs of dysfunction, uncomfortable climate-related feelings often [can] have enormous value; for instance, worry as a warning of potential threats, anger as a rejection of injustice, and grief as a healthy recognition of loss. Together, our climate-related feelings connect us to like-minded people around the world, they motivate our action, they remind us of our care for both other people and the natural world, and they guide us as we think about the better future we would like to create."

The need for support

The authors call for "support" to help young people cope with their climate feelings. This support starts with everyday "validating responses", acknowledging the pain rather than mocking it or suppressing. It extends to mental health professionals, who can either be of great help in designing and holding "non-judgmental spaces" and naming the feelings -- or who can also "invalidate their clients' climate-related feelings, with deeply harmful effects."

Support should also come from climate action from policymakers and business leaders: "Many of our feelings (such as sadness, worry, grief and frustration) derive their intensity from the knowledge that the crisis is still not being taken seriously enough. If policymakers were more ambitious then we would only need to grieve the impacts that are already 'locked-in', rather than feeling worried and angry about the potential scale and impacts of continued climate neglect."

Hopes

The paper goes on to articulate four hopes: "(1) political support for climate action; (2) climate-related mental health support; (3) intergenerational collaboration; and (4) a radically more compassionate world more broadly."

What the authors describe as "meaningful intergenerational collaboration" includes two ideas: really listening to young voices in climate discussions, as opposed to tokenistic involvement; and providing "meaningful climate-related opportunities available and related financial, educational and mental health support."