Ecological Grief as a Response to Environmental Change: A Mental Health Risk or Functional Response?

New York State Climate Impacts Assessment Chapter 07: Human Health and Safety

New Yorkers face a multitude of health and safety risks that are exacerbated by a changing climate. These risks include direct impacts from extreme weather events and other climate hazards, as well as indirect impacts occurring through a chain of interactions. Physical safety, physical health, and mental health are all part of the equation-as are the many nonclimate factors that interact with climate change to influence health outcomes. This chapter provides an updated assessment of all these topics at the intersection of climate change, public health and safety, and equity in the state of New York. Key findings are presented below.

Detecting climate anxiety in therapy through natural language processing

A well-documented consequence of global warming is increased psychological distress and climate anxiety, but data gaps limit action. While climate anxiety garners attention, its expression in therapy remains unexplored. Natural language processing (NLP) models can identify climate discussions in therapy, aiding therapists and informing training. This study analyzed 32,542 therapy sessions provided by 849 therapists to 7,916 clients in U.S. behavioral health programs between July 2020 and December 2022, yielding 1,722,273 labeled therapist-client micro-dialogues. Climate- and weather-related topics constituted a mere 0.3% of the sessions. Clients exhibiting higher levels of depressive or anxiety symptoms were less likely to discuss weather and climate compared to those with mild or no symptoms. Findings suggest that although global warming is known to impact mental health, these issues are not yet adequately addressed in psychotherapy. This study suggests a potential gap between the documented mental health concerns associated with climate change and their representation in psychotherapy. NLP models can provide valuable feedback to therapists and assist in identifying key moments and conversational topics to inform training and improve the effectiveness of therapy sessions.

From eco-anxiety to eco-hope: surviving the climate change threat

Introduction

As the average global temperature increases, the effects of climate change worsen, through effects on worsening extreme events as well as exacerbating political, economic, and social turmoil (wars, conflicts, and migrations). This poses an existential risk to the survival of humans and non-humans. These effects are visible due to the impact on people's mental health and psychophysical well-being. This article aims to explore the growing phenomenon of psychoterratic syndromes, with focus on the effect of eco-anxiety on mental health. Furthermore, the relationship between eco-anxiety and behavior response (both individual and collective) in the climate crisis era is outlined.

Methods

A research with interdisciplinary approach was carried out for recent literature and articles relating to psychoterratic syndromes and the effects of climate change on mental health.

Results

The article explores the effects of climate change on mental health, including various research on the onset of new emotions in response to psychological effects to climate change, called psychoterratic syndromes (such as eco-anxiety, climate anxiety, solastalgia, eco-grief). Among these, eco-anxiety is the most popular term used for describing how people feel about climate change. However, the paradigm that described eco-anxiety only as a pathological emotion needs to be changed.

Discussion

The article emphasizes the positive effect of eco-emotions and the need to stimulate people to move from a state of anxiety, which could bring apathy and resignation, toward eco-hope. Eco-hope could be an adaptive coping mechanism in people and communities, which is key to preventing, mitigating, and protecting mental and planetary health.

A Review of Climate-Driven Threats to Recreational Water Users in Hawaii

In Hawaii, impacts from climate change, such as sea-level rise and flooding, increased hurricanes and wildfires, and warmer temperatures, intersect with aging infrastructure, toxicities from the built environment, and pathogens to threaten the health of recreational ocean users via reduced water quality, severe weather and flooding, environmental degradation, and food systems impacts. An examination of climate-driven threats to water safety is a pertinent review of threats to coastal residents globally.

First responders' occupational injury and disease associated with periods of extreme bushfires

There has been limited research on the health impacts of extreme bushfire exposure among emergency responders (ER) involved in suppressing extreme bushfires. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between extreme bushfires and ER's compensated injury and illness in Victoria, Australia. State-wide ER compensation claims from January 2005 to April 2023 were analysed. Logistic regression modelling was used to identify factors associated with compensation claims during the extreme bushfire periods in 2009 and 2019/20, compared to all other claims, adjusting for seasonality (summer). Of the 44,164 included claims, 1105 (2.5%) had recorded injury/disease onset dates within extreme bushfire periods, and 11,642 (26.4%) occurred in summer months. Over half of claims were made by police (52.4%), followed by ambulance officers/paramedics (27.2%) and firefighters (20.5%). Extreme bushfire period claims were associated with older workers (odds ratio/OR = 1.58,95%CI = 1.30-1.92, ages ≥ 55 vs. 35-44 years). Mental disorders (OR = 1.61,95%CI = 1.25-2.07), intracranial injuries (OR = 3.04,95%CI = 1.69-5.48) and infections/parasites (OR = 3.11,95%CI = 1.61-5.98) vs. wounds were associated with extreme bushfire period claims. Given the expected increase in extreme bushfire events and the ageing workforce, study findings underscore the importance of primary and secondary prevention in ER. This can include periodic health surveillance for older workers, access to early treatment, and ongoing support for mental health conditions.

The weather as a determinant of farmer's mental health: A dependent, interacting, cumulative and escalating model (DICE) of the effects of extreme weather events

This perspective paper presents a conceptual, theoretical framework of the weather as a determinant of mental health for farmers. This model proposes that the effects of extreme weather events have interacting and cumulative effects for farmers, who are dependent on the land.

How loss of nature through clear-cutting forestry affects well-being

The United Nations declares that the global degradation of ecosystems represents a danger to human health. Deterioration of forests is one of several threats against the natural systems. The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate people's experiences with clear-cutting and how it had affected their health and well-being. Qualitative data from six people who valued forest ecosystems were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed in accordance with Graneheim and Lundman's qualitative content analysis (Graneheim, U. H. and Lundman, B. (2004) Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Education Today, 24, 105-112). Clear-cutting was not regarded as an environment-friendly forestry method. The interviewees described emotional reactions such as grief and poor mental well-being when beloved forests were clear-felled. The grief was partly because of a personal loss of place and recreation area that was important for their physical and emotional well-being. Another part was grief on behalf of nature itself, that is, the loss of habitats of animals and plants and a worsening of the global climate. The interviewees held that emotions related to loss of nature were insufficiently communicated in public discourse. They felt powerless and unable to influence forestry because of what they experienced as an impenetrable industry. Clear-cutting of forests may result in poor well-being among people who value forest ecosystems. More focus on planetary health is needed, including healthy public policy promoting forest management that considers people's need for nature experiences and possible ecological grief when forests are totally and abruptly cleared.

"We Used to Have Four Seasons, but Now There Is Only One": Perceptions Concerning the Changing Climate and Environment in a Diverse Sample of Israeli Older Persons

Solastalgia is the pain caused by the loss of solace and isolation from one's environment. Solastalgia is contrasted with nostalgia, which is defined as melancholy characterized by homesickness or the distance from one's home. The present study examines the two concepts of solastalgia and nostalgia in the context of climate change among diverse populations of older Israelis. In total, 50 older persons from four different population groups (e.g., veteran Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and Ethiopian immigrants) were interviewed. All interviews were transcribed and analyzed thematically. Members of all four groups expressed emotional distress and grief associated with the changing climate, increased environmental pollution, and the disappearance of nature. Perceptions around the undesirability of these changes were quite unanimous, thus leading us to conclude that the outcomes associated with solastalgia and nostalgia are quite similar despite different etiological explanations.

Climate change-related concerns in psychotherapy: therapists' experiences and views on addressing this topic in therapy

BACKGROUND

While adverse impacts of climate change on physical health are well-known, research on its effects on mental health is still scarce. Thus, it is unclear whether potential impacts have already reached treatment practice. Our study aimed to quantify psychotherapists' experiences with patients reporting climate change-related concerns and their views on dealing with this topic in psychotherapy.

METHODS

In a nationwide online survey, responses were collected from 573 psychotherapists from Germany. Therapists reported on the presence of such patients, their socio-demographic characteristics, and climate change-related reactions. Psychotherapists' views on dealing with this topic in psychotherapy were also assessed. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the responses.

RESULTS

About 72% (410/573) of psychotherapists indicated having had patients expressing concerns about climate change during treatment. Out of these therapists, 41% (166/410) stated that at least one patient sought treatment deliberately because of such concerns. Patients were mainly young adults with higher education. Most frequent primary diagnoses were depression, adjustment disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Psychotherapists having encountered such patients differed from those without such encounters in their views on potential functional impairment and the necessity to target the concerns in treatment. Although 79% (326/415) of all respondents felt adequately prepared by their current therapeutic skills, 50% (209/414) reported a lack of information on how to deal with such concerns in therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicate that psychotherapists are frequently confronted with climate change-related concerns and regard the mental health impact of climate change on their patients as meaningful to psychotherapeutic care. Regular care could be improved by a continuous refinement of the conceptualization and knowledge of the mental health influences of climate change. This would allow providing tailored methods of assessing and addressing climate change-related concerns in practice.

Intergenerational concern relates to constructive coping and emotional reactions to climate change via increased legacy concerns and environmental cognitive alternatives

As the threat of climate change looms large, and we experience first-hand the impacts of rapid global warming, researchers and clinicians emphasize the need to better understand the impact of these changes on our mental health. Existing research suggests that coping with and emotional reactions to climate change can promote action to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change and reduce its negative impacts to one's mental health. In this pre-registered study (N = 771) we examined whether people who display extreme intergenerational concern would also constructively cope with climate change. Empirically-identified individuals showing high intergenerational concern reported more problem-focused and meaning-based coping, and less avoidant coping strategies with climate change. Further, even though they felt guilty, angry, sorrowful and isolated, these individuals also felt hopeful about the future. These effects were explained by increased concerns about one's legacy and higher access to environmental cognitive alternatives. By instilling values that highlight intergenerational concern as a key priority, we could thus not only increase pro-climate action, but also help individuals actively and constructively cope with changes produced by climate change.

Claiming ecological grief: Why are we not mourning (more and more publicly) for ecological destruction?

Eco-anxiety, grief and despair are increasing, yet these emotions tend to remain private, rarely expressed in public. Why is it important and necessary to grieve for ecological loss? Why are we not-as individuals and societies-coming together to express and share our grief for ecological destruction? I address these questions from three angles. Firstly, I draw on recent literature on ecological grief and prior work on grief for human lives, to argue for the importance and urgency of grieving publicly for ecological loss. Building on this, I identify perceptual, cognitive, affective, ritual and political obstacles to ecological mourning; these obstacles point at critical intersections between emotions, practices, disciplines, public and private realms, which can turn into fruitful venues for further research, debate and action on ecological grief (and its absence). In closing, I propose a set of 'ecological skills' that might help us overcome these obstacles, and lead us to embrace ecological grief and mourning as acts of ethical responsibility and care for the planet.

"Don't Look Up": Eco-anxiety presenting in a Community Mental Health Service

This case report discusses a 25-year-old male who was referred to community mental health services from primary care with symptoms of anxiety and depression related to climate change, which the referring clinician believed were of delusional intensity. This case report gives the history of his interaction with the service. A literature review is performed noting the dearth of case reports in this area and a subsequent discussion charts the emerging literature on mental health issues related to climate change. Finally the paper makes some broad recommendations for mental health practitioners on how to approach these issues.

Film as a pedagogical tool for climate change and mental health nursing education

The relationship between climate change and worsening mental health is of increasing concern globally. Climate change is ubiquitous, yet marginalized populations bear a disproportionate burden of the physical and mental health impacts, while youth are more likely to report mental health concerns related to climate change than older generations. Mental health nurses will inevitably see these impacts play out in their practice, thus it is important to explore innovative tools for teaching about and responding to the emotional and psychological impacts of climate change. This perspective paper presents an educational project that utilized film and structured reflection to engage with the intersecting topics of planetary and mental health. The authors created a documentary film that presents the relationship between mental health and climate change as well as an accompanying reflective toolkit. Both the film and toolkit were integrated into an undergraduate course about the health impacts of climate change. This paper explores the relevance of climate change to mental health nursing education and practice, describes the process of creating and integrating the film and toolkit into a course and advances the position that film is an innovative way to engage individuals and communities (such as student or community groups) with the emotional and psychological concerns that arise in response to complex challenges of climate change. More research is needed to better understand the mental health impacts of climate change and to explore novel approaches to education and advocacy about this topic. We hope that sharing our project and experiences will inspire additional discussion and research related to these emerging issues that are of great relevance to mental health nursing.

Eco-Anxiety: An Evolutionary Line from Psychology to Psychopathology

According to the scientific literature, climate change, due to human activities, can damage the environment, with psycho-physical consequences for humans. The scientific literature has highlighted how severe weather events can cause fear, stress, concern for the future, and eco-anxiety. In light of this information, this study aims to explore the concept of eco-anxiety. However, climate change is still perceived as a secondary problem. It would also be worth investigating the real importance that people attach to environmental issues compared to other circumstances, such as wars or pandemics.

Measurement scales of mental health related to climate change: a scoping review protocol using artificial intelligence

INTRODUCTION

Human actions have influenced climate changes around the globe, causing extreme weather phenomena and impacting communities worldwide. Climate change has caused, directly or indirectly, health effects such as injury and physical injuries, which impact morbidity and mortality. Similarly, there is evidence that exposure to climatic catastrophes has serious repercussions on psychological well-being, and rising temperatures and drought have detrimental effects on mental health.Despite the recent effort of researchers to develop specific instruments to assess the effects of climate change on mental health, the evidence on measures of its impact is still scarce, and the constructs are heterogeneous. The aim of this scoping review is to describe the instruments developed and validated to assess the impact of mental health related to climate change.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This review is registered at Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/zdmbk). This scoping review will follow the reporting elements chosen for systematic review and meta-analysis (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses). We proposed a PO question, as it places no restrictions on the participants (P), and the outcome (O) are measurement instruments on mental health related to climate change. A search will be conducted in different databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO). We will use an open-source artificial intelligence screening tool (ASReview LAB) for the title and abstract review. The full-text review will be performed by three researchers. If there is a disagreement between two independent reviewers, a third reviewer will take the final decision. We will use the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments tool to assess the risk of bias for each included study. The review will be conducted starting in September 2023.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The planned scoping review does not require ethical approval since it will not involve an ethical risk to the participants. The results obtained from this study will be presented at conferences, congresses and scientific publications.

Bereavement issues and prolonged grief disorder: A global perspective

The death of a loved one - bereavement - is a universal experience that marks the human mental health condition. Grief - the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to bereavement - is thus experienced by virtually everyone at some point in life, while mourning is a process through which grievers come to terms with the loss envisioning life without the deceased. Although distress subsides over time among most bereaved individuals, a minority will develop a condition recently identified as prolonged grief disorder (PGD). The present review provides a global perspective on bereavement, grief reactions, and PGD. Although the loss of a loved one and grief reactions are in general experienced consistently across different cultures, differences and variations in their expression may exist across cultures. Especially within specific populations that may be more at risk for PGD, possibly due to risk factors associated with the mechanisms of loss (e.g., refugees, migrants, and conflict survivors). The diagnostic criteria for PGD are mostly based on Western grieving populations, and cultural adaptations of PGD treatments are limited. Therefore, cross-cultural development and validation of PGD screening/assessment is critical to support future research on grief reactions and PGD, especially in non-Western contexts, and concerning the potential future global changes and challenges that appear to have a major impact on PGD. More transcultural research on PGD is needed to contextualize and will lead to culture-bound symptom identification of PGD, and the adaptation of current treatment protocols, which may ultimately improve health at the individual level, and health-care systems.

Disaster Mental Health Risk Reduction: Appraising Disaster Mental Health Research as If Risk Mattered

The globally increasing frequency, intensity, and complexity of extreme climatic events and disasters poses significant challenges for the future health and wellbeing of affected populations around the world [...].

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Eco-Apocalypse: An Existential Approach to Accepting Eco-Anxiety

Climate crisis presents a near-term existential threat to the human species, one that society has neither the physical nor psychological infrastructure to manage. Eco-anxiety increases as awareness about climate crisis spreads. Despite an urgent need for resources on how to help people cope with the psychological ramifications of climate crisis, there is little literature that both addresses people's apocalyptic fears and takes the scientific bases of those fears seriously. In this article, I synthesize research on existential psychology, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, grief, and end-of-life care to present an original perspective on how people, individually and collectively, can become psychologically resilient to climate crisis. First, I establish that death anxiety underlies eco-anxiety. Second, I demonstrate that preparing psychologically for eco-apocalypse requires people to cultivate death acceptance. Finally, I illustrate how commitment to palliative values can enable people to live rich and meaningful lives despite their most likely imminent end.

Current understanding of the impact of climate change on mental health within UK parliament

There is growing evidence that climate change is linked to adverse mental health outcomes, with both direct and indirect impacts already being felt globally, including within the United Kingdom (UK). With the UK parliament tasked with passing legislation to mitigate against and adapt to climate change, it is well placed to take a lead in implementing policies that reduce the impact of climate change on mental health and even provide mental health benefits (e.g., by increasing access to green space). The extent to which the UK parliament considers the relationship between climate change and mental health in its decision-making was previously unknown. We report, through quantitative thematic analysis of the UK Hansard database, that the UK parliament has only infrequently made links between climate change and mental health. Where links have been made, the primary focus of the speeches were around flooding and anxiety. Key mental health impacts of climate change reported in the academic literature, such as high temperature and suicides, or experiences of eco-anxiety, were found to be missing entirely. Further, policies suggested in UK parliament to minimise the impact of climate change on mental health were focused on pushing adaptation measures such as flood defences rather than climate mitigation, indicating potential missed opportunities for effective policies with co-benefits for tackling climate change and mental health simultaneously. Therefore, this research suggests a need to raise awareness for UK policymakers of the costs of climate inaction on mental health, and potential co-benefits of climate action on mental health. Our results provide insight into where links have and have not been made to date, to inform targeted awareness raising and ultimately equip policymakers to protect the UK from the increasingly large impacts of climate change on mental health.

Psychological responses, mental health, and sense of agency for the dual challenges of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic in young people in the UK: an online survey study

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic and climate change are both significant and pressing global challenges, posing threats to public health and wellbeing. Young people are particularly vulnerable to the distress both crises can cause, but understanding of the varied psychological responses to both issues is poor. We aimed to investigate these responses and their links with mental health conditions and feelings of agency.

METHODS

We conducted an online survey between Aug 5 and Oct 26, 2020, targeting a diverse sample of young people (aged 16-24 years, n=530) in the UK. The survey was distributed using a combination of a survey panel (panel sample) and direct approaches to youth groups and schools who shared the survey with young people in their networks (community sample). We collected data on respondents' psychological responses to both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, their sense of agency to respond to each crisis, and the range of impacts on their lives. We also collected demographics data and screened for mental health and wellbeing indicators. We used non-parametric tests for most statistical comparisons. For paired samples, we used Wilcoxon's signed-rank test, and used Mann-Whitney U-tests or Kruskal-Wallis tests for two or more independent samples. Summed scale scores were considered as interval-level data and analysed with Student's t tests and ANOVAs. Effect sizes are reported as Cohen's d and partial eta-squared (η·²_p), respectively.

FINDINGS

After excluding 18 suspected bots and 94 incomplete responses, 530 responses were retained for analysis. Of the 518 respondents who provided demographic data, 63% were female, 71·4% were White, and the mean family affluence score was 8·22 (SD 2·29). Most participants (n=343; 70%) did not report a history of diagnosis or treatment for a mental health disorder, but mental health scores indicated a common experience of (relatively mild) symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress. Although UK youth reported more life disruption and concern for their future due to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change was associated with significantly greater distress overall, particularly for individuals with low levels of generalised anxiety. The COVID-19 pandemic was more associated with feelings of anxiety, isolation, disconnection, and frustration; distress around loss and grief; and effects on quality of life. Climate change was more likely to evoke emotions such as interest and engagement, guilt, shame, anger, and disgust. The greater distress attributed to climate change overall was due, in particular, to higher levels of guilt, sense of personal responsibility, and greater distress triggered by upsetting media coverage. Agency to address climate change was associated with greater climate distress, but pandemic-related distress and agency were unrelated.

INTERPRETATION

The COVID-19 pandemic and climate change are affecting the wellbeing of UK young people in distinct ways, with implications for health service, policy, and research responses. There is a need for mental health practitioners, policy makers, and other societal actors to account for the complex relationship between climate agency, distress, and mental wellbeing in young people.

FUNDING

Imperial College London.

The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing: A Narrative Review of Current Evidence, and its Implications

Converging global evidence highlights the dire consequences of climate change for human mental health and wellbeing. This paper summarises literature across relevant disciplines to provide a comprehensive narrative review of the multiple pathways through which climate change interacts with mental health and wellbeing. Climate change acts as a risk amplifier by disrupting the conditions known to support good mental health, including socioeconomic, cultural and environmental conditions, and living and working conditions. The disruptive influence of rising global temperatures and extreme weather events, such as experiencing a heatwave or water insecurity, compounds existing stressors experienced by individuals and communities. This has deleterious effects on people's mental health and is particularly acute for those groups already disadvantaged within and across countries. Awareness and experiences of escalating climate threats and climate inaction can generate understandable psychological distress; though strong emotional responses can also motivate climate action. We highlight opportunities to support individuals and communities to cope with and act on climate change. Consideration of the multiple and interconnected pathways of climate impacts and their influence on mental health determinants must inform evidence-based interventions. Appropriate action that centres climate justice can reduce the current and future mental health burden, while simultaneously improving the conditions that nurture wellbeing and equality. The presented evidence adds further weight to the need for decisive climate action by decision makers across all scales.

A Changing Home: A Cross-Sectional Study on Environmental Degradation, Resettlement and Psychological Distress in a Western German Coal-Mining Region

Unwelcome environmental changes can lead to psychological distress, known as “solastalgia”. In Germany, the open-pit mining of brown coal results in environmental changes as well as in the resettlement of adjacent villages. In this study, we investigated the risk of open-pit mining for solastalgia and psychological disorders (e.g., depression, generalized anxiety and somatization) in local communities. The current residents and resettlers from two German open-pit mines were surveyed concerning environmental stressors, place attachment, impacts and mental health status. In total, 620 people responded, including 181 resettlers, 114 people from villages threatened by resettlement and 325 people from non-threatened villages near an open-pit mine. All groups self-reported high levels of psychological distress, approximately ranging between 2−7.5 times above the population average. Respondents from resettlement-threatened villages showed the worst mental health status, with 52.7% indicating at least moderate somatization levels (score sum > 9), compared to 28% among resettlers. We observed a mean PHQ depression score of 7.9 (SD 5.9) for people from resettlement-threatened villages, 7.4 (SD 6.0) for people from not-threatened villages, compared to 5.0 (SD 6.5) for already resettled people (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the degradation and loss of the home environment caused by open-pit mining was associated with an increased prevalence of depressive, anxious and somatoform symptoms in local communities. This reveals a need for further in-depth research, targeted psychosocial support and improved policy frameworks, in favor of residents’ and resettlers’ mental health.

Belonging to the World through Body, Trust, and Trinity: Climate Change and Pastoral Care with University Students

This article explores how pastoral care is performed in an age of climate change. University students suffer from a wide range of stresses, reducing their well-being. Climate change compounds these stress reactions, even where students are not directly affected. As climate change affects concrete, material matters, human reactions to it may no longer be viewed and treated as purely inner psychic states. Thus, climate change disrupts usual divisions of material, social, and mental features as separate categories, underscoring instead the close-knit relations between them. Given the far-reaching ways climate change affects mental health, the article presents an ethnographical-theologically-driven model for basic conversation in pastoral care with students in the midst of escalating climate events. Making use of theories from anthropology, psychology, and theology, this article builds on in-depth interviews with Danish university chaplains about their pastoral care with students. The model extrapolates from these theories how pastoral care may support students in the era of climate change through a triad of organizing themes that come to the fore in the interviews: “Mothering the Content”, “Loving Vital Force”, and “Befriending the Environment”.

Discovering emotional patterns for climate change and for the COVID-19 pandemic in university students

The global crises of climate change and of the COVID-19 pandemic are straining young peoples' mental health and their mitigation behaviours. We surveyed German-speaking university students aged 18 to 30 years on their negative emotions regarding both crises repeatedly before and during the COVID-19 crisis. Different emotional patterns emerged for climate change and for COVID-19 with negative emotions regarding COVID-19 increasing during the pandemic. We were further able to differentiate between emotional responses associated with impaired wellbeing and those associated with mitigation efforts. Our findings emphasise the need to focus on a mixture of highly inactivating and activating emotions regarding COVID-19 as they are associated with both reduced wellbeing and mitigation behaviours. The findings broaden the understanding of how young adults react to the burden of two global crises and what role negative emotions play.

Eco-Anxiety and Pastoral Care: Theoretical Considerations and Practical Suggestions

The environmental crisis is producing an increasing number of both physical and psychological impacts. This article studies the challenge of eco-anxiety for pastoral care, drawing from both interdisciplinary research and ecological theology. The aim is to help both practitioners and researchers to encounter eco-anxiety more constructively. The rapidly growing research about eco-anxiety and therapy is discussed in relation to pastoral care. The various forms of eco-anxiety are briefly analyzed. The role of the caregivers is discussed by using sources that study the challenges of therapists in relation to eco-anxiety. The existential depths of eco-anxiety are probed in the light of recent research and older existentialist theory. It is pointed out that the political character of ecological issues, especially climate change issues, causes many kinds of challenges for pastoral care. As the constructive conclusion of the article, various possibilities and resources for encountering eco-anxiety in pastoral care are discussed, along with the connections with wider pastoral theology. It is argued that pastoral care providers should engage in self-reflection about their own attitudes and emotions related to ecological issues, preferably with the support of trusted peers or mentors. Various organizational developments are also needed to support caregivers. Dialectical thinking is one tool that can help to navigate the complex dynamics related to environmental responsibility, eco-emotions, and questions of hope or hopelessness.

Global priorities for climate change and mental health research

BACKGROUND

Compared with other health areas, the mental health impacts of climate change have received less research attention. The literature on climate change and mental health is growing rapidly but is characterised by several limitations and research gaps. In a field where the need for designing evidence-based adaptation strategies is urgent, and research gaps are vast, implementing a broad, all-encompassing research agenda will require some strategic focus.

METHODS

We followed a structured approach to prioritise future climate change and mental health research. We consulted with experts working across mental health and climate change, both within and outside of research and working in high, middle, and low-income countries, to garner consensus about the future research priorities for mental health and climate change. Experts were identified based on whether they had published work on climate change and mental health, worked in governmental and non-governmental organisations on climate change and mental health, and from the professional networks of the authors who have been active in the mental health and climate change space.

RESULTS

Twenty-two experts participated from across low- and middle-income countries (n = 4) and high-income countries (n = 18). Our process identified ten key priorities for progressing research on mental health and climate change.

CONCLUSION

While climate change is considered the biggest threat to global mental health in the coming century, tackling this threat could be the most significant opportunity to shape our mental health for centuries to come because of health co-benefits of transitioning to more sustainable ways of living. Research on the impacts of climate change on mental health and mental health-related systems will assist decision-makers to develop robust evidence-based mitigation and adaptation policies and plans with the potential for broad benefits to society and the environment.

The Impact of Wildfires on Mental Health: A Scoping Review

One of the many consequences of climate change is an increase in the frequency, severity, and, thus, impact of wildfires across the globe. The destruction and loss of one's home, belongings, and surrounding community, and the threat to personal safety and the safety of loved ones can have significant consequences on survivors' mental health, which persist for years after. The objective of this scoping review was to identify primary studies examining the impact of wildfires on mental health and to summarize findings for PTSD, depression, anxiety, and substance use. Literature searches on Pubmed and Embase were conducted in February and April of 2021, respectively, with no date restrictions. A total of 254 studies were found in the two database searches, with 60 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Three other studies were identified and included based on relevant in-text citations during data abstraction. The results show an increased rate of PTSD, depression, and generalized anxiety at several times of follow-up post-wildfire, from the subacute phase, to years after. An increased rate of mental health disorders post-wildfire has been found in both the adult and pediatric population, with a number of associated risk factors, the most significant being characteristics of the wildfire trauma itself. Several new terms have arisen in the literature secondary to an increased awareness and understanding of the impact of natural disasters on mental health, including ecological grief, solastalgia, and eco-anxiety. There are a number of patient factors and systemic changes that have been identified post-wildfire that can contribute to resilience and recovery.