WHO warns of “serious risk” of climate change on mental health

“Nearly 1 billion people worldwide live with mental disorders.” A figure that has skyrocketed in recent years for very diverse reasons and whose list continues to grow. Stress, chemicals or hereditary factors are some of the origins of these disorders to which the World Health Organization (WHO) adds more: drought, floods, or extreme heat, among others.

“The impact of climate change is aggravating the already extremely complicated situation in which mental health and mental health services find themselves globally,” says Dévora Kestel, director of the department of mental health and substance abuse at the WHO, in Stockholm+50.

Concern for the environment is increasingly present among the population. Research published in The Lancet reveals that almost half of young people between the ages of 6 and 25 say that “concern about the climate negatively affects their daily lives.” “Several terms have emerged to describe these responses,” says the WHO.

Eco-anxiety, environmental anguish, ecological mourning or solastalgia are the new concepts that have arisen from the impact of different environmental factors on the mental health of citizens. “The effects of climate change are increasingly present in our daily lives, and there is little specialized mental health support for people and communities facing climate-related dangers and long-term risk,” details María Neira, director of the department of environment, climate change and health of the WHO.

“Mental health is a priority for action on climate change,” highlights the health organization in the document that endorses the conclusions presented by the Intergovernmental Panel of Experts on Climate Change (IPCC), published last February. “Health systems have few resources and their ability to respond to climate change is weak,” this research denounced.

unequal impact

“I am myself and my circumstances,” Ortega y Gasset repeated. The impact of climate change “affects the population in different ways,” says the WHO. Sadness, anxiety, anger, impotence and guilt are some of the symptoms reported by the youngest people asked about it in The Lancet research.

In addition, the United Nations international health organization points out that the effects of climate change on mental health are distributed “unevenly” among certain groups that are affected “disproportionately”, due to factors such as socioeconomic status, gender or age. “Indigenous peoples are more likely to define well-being in terms of harmony with natural environments,” say World Health Organization researchers in this report.

An unexpected period of drought, a severe fire or the salinization of their farmland are impacts that modify their way of life. They may be most affected by the loss of even small amounts of land or wildlife or by other climate-related impacts.

A vulnerability that is not protected by health systems. “In low- and middle-income countries, three out of four people do not have access to the necessary services to take care of their mental health,” Kestel warns.

According to a survey by this international organization, carried out in 95 countries, only 9 of them had included, to date, support for mental and psychosocial health in their national plans on health and climate change. “By increasing support under climate-related and disaster risk reduction measures, countries will be able to do more to help protect people most at risk,” Kestel says.

To reduce the impact, WHO has recommended five approaches to address the mental health impacts of climate change: integrate climate considerations with mental health programming, integrate mental health support with climate action, build on global commitments, develop community-based approaches to reduce vulnerabilities and close the large funding gap that exists for mental health and psychosocial support.

These axes follow the path marked out last February by the IPCC, which called on governments to “invest in structures that provide psychological first aid and strengthen emotional resilience in vulnerable communities.”