The paper topic relates to mental health and well-being with climate change. Mental health issues are an emerging issue from climate change, with a variety of consequences globally, ranging from depression, mental distress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, suicide tendencies, and strained social relationships (Crimmins et al., 2016). The adverse effects of global climate change and associated environmental hazards raise alarm on the population’s well-being and hence should be addressed and measures put in place to resolve the situation and reduce correlated future health risks. Climate change is an ongoing environmental concern that has resulted in extreme weather and related disasters and health hazards. The greenhouse effect, leading to increased temperature, poor quality of air, rising sea levels, extreme precipitation or heat has impacted concerns affecting water and food resources and increasing disease vectors and variants such as breathing problems from poor air quality, heatstroke from extreme heat, and skin cancer from high levels of dangerous radiation from the depletion of the ozone layer, displacement from adversely affected areas such as near waterlines from increasing water levels, which contribute to mental health issues in different ways (Cianconi et al., 2020). Exposure to the resulting disasters and illnesses has serious consequences on mental health including trauma, PTSD, depression, mental distress, anxiety, and other psychological issues. These effects may lead to suicidality and substance abuse. Additionally, correlated social impacts adversely affect the well-being of concerned parties. Stress response, perceptions, and personal and community experience to climate change implications has also led to post-traumatic growth, resilience (Ebi et al., 2018), and in some cases strained social relationships. Several specific groups face a higher threat of adverse consequences to their mental health and well-being from exposure, including first responders, the elderly, homeless and economically disadvantaged, children, women, especially pre-natal and post-natal, persons with pre-existing mental and other health conditions such as poor thermal regulation (Hayes et al., 2018), those whose livelihood highly depends on the environment or are located in regions facing climate change adverse weather conditions. Addressing global mental health prevalence is already a major concern without the contribution of climate change effects (Crimmins et al., 2016), and reducing such implications is very important in promoting local and global mental health and well-being. Though a majority of people recover from psychological implications, some affected persons are chronically mentally exposed, besides physiological effects. The local, state, and federal governments and other nongovernmental corporations can effectively mitigate the adverse effects by introducing and funding climate action strategies to reduce and slow down climate change (Hayes et al., 2018). Promoting sustainability through reduced energy demand, use of renewable energy, and decrease emissions levels, disaster preparedness, and response, education on climate change and environmental, social, and health implications and how to handle resulting challenges, research, through monitoring and resolving climate change effects such as disease vectors, and helping in relocation from affected adverse weather condition areas to safer regions. Finally, for future measures, setting aside funds to meet associated climate change challenges to a community’s mental health and well-being is beneficial in various aspects. With advanced and secure funding, research and non-research operations can effectively be done to promote people’s adaptability (Ebi et al., 2018) to the situation, avoid preventable adverse events, provide ways for the population to protect themselves from environmental hazards, better response measures for crisis thereby reducing impact and mental health support programs for affected individuals.
References
Cianconi, P., Betrò, S., & Janiri, L. (2020). The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health: A Systematic Descriptive Review. Frontiers In Psychiatry , 11 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00074
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Crimmins, A., Balbus, J., Gamble, J., Beard, C., Bell, J., & Dodgen, D. et al. (2016). U.S. Global Change Research Program 2016: The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment. https://doi.org/10.7930/j00p0wxs
Ebi, K., Boyer, C., Bowen, K., Frumkin, H., & Hess, J. (2018). Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators for Climate Change-Related Health Impacts, Risks, Adaptation, and Resilience. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health , 15 (9), 1943. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15091943
Hayes, K., Blashki, G., Wiseman, J., Burke, S., & Reifels, L. (2018). Climate change and mental health: risks, impacts and priority actions. International Journal Of Mental Health Systems , 12 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-018-0210-6
