Addressing climate change through mental health

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  Published in Health and Fitness on Tuesday, September 30th 2025 at 13:05 GMT by Associated Press

Climate Change is a Mental Health Crisis, and Experts Say We Must Act Now

In a new AP News video titled “Addressing Climate Change Through Mental Health,” the focus shifts from the physical devastation of extreme weather to the often‑overlooked psychological toll that a warming planet is taking on people around the world. The clip opens with a montage of wildfires, floods, and heat‑wave‑raked communities, intercut with interview snippets from mental‑health professionals, climate scientists, and climate‑activists. The underlying message is clear: the planet’s crisis is as much about our minds as it is about our ecosystems.

The Psychology of a Warming Planet

The video starts by framing the concept of climate anxiety—a form of anticipatory stress that has become especially pronounced among younger generations. Dr. Lillian Torres, a child‑and‑adolescent psychiatrist at Boston Children’s Hospital, explains that “climate anxiety is not just an isolated worry. It’s a pervasive sense that the future is uncertain, that the very environment you live in is under threat, and that those threats may one day directly affect you or your loved ones.” She cites a recent study from the Journal of Adolescent Health showing that 65% of high‑school students in the U.S. reported feeling “overwhelmed by news of climate change,” leading to higher rates of depression and sleep disturbances.

Another term that surfaces in the video is solastalgia, a coined word that describes the distress people feel when their home environment deteriorates. “You feel a kind of homesickness for the place you live, even though you’re still there,” says Dr. David Kim, a climate‑psychology researcher at the University of British Columbia. Kim points to communities in the Pacific Northwest, where the loss of tree cover and increased wildfire frequency are eroding a sense of place.

Climate‑Related Trauma

While the video highlights anxiety, it also delves into the trauma that follows catastrophic weather events. After Hurricane Ida swept through Louisiana in 2021, 18% of residents reported symptoms of post‑traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The video features a survivor who shares that the fear of “another storm” keeps him awake at night.

Mental‑health clinicians note that the trauma experienced after these events is not isolated; it can ripple across generations. “When parents grieve the loss of a home, that grief can translate into chronic stress in children who may not even fully understand why their world feels so fragile,” says Dr. Torres.

Why the World’s Health Systems Need to Step In

The AP News video also pulls in experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology. WHO Director‑General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says that climate change “exacerbates pre‑existing health inequalities and creates new health inequities.” He urges health ministries to incorporate climate‑resilient practices into all levels of care. Dr. Anju Patel, WHO’s lead on climate and mental health, notes that the WHO’s new Climate‑Health Action Plan recommends training health workers to recognize and treat climate‑related anxiety and trauma.

The “Climate‑Health” Movement Gains Momentum

The video follows a series of climate‑activist youth who are taking their mental health concerns to the world stage. Among them is 17‑year‑old Maya Patel, who co‑founded the Youth Mental Health & Climate Coalition in 2022. Maya recounts how her group organized a “Mental Health Day” during the 2023 UN Climate Conference (COP28) to spotlight the psychological impacts of climate denial. “We want to make sure that climate policy isn’t just about reducing emissions—it’s also about safeguarding our collective mental well‑being,” she says.

The video links to a partner article, “Psychologists Warn Climate Anxiety Could Become a Global Pandemic,” which highlights a 2024 study by the American Psychological Association. The study found that the average annual cost of climate‑related mental health care in the U.S. could reach $4.7 billion by 2030, if climate action remains stalled.

Interventions That Work

The video rounds out with practical strategies that mental‑health professionals are beginning to employ. “Nature‑based therapy,” explains Dr. Kim, refers to “structured outdoor interventions that reconnect people with natural settings to improve mood and reduce stress.” A pilot program in Portland, Oregon, found a 20% decrease in anxiety scores among participants who walked in the city’s parks three times a week.

For communities at risk of displacement, the video highlights trauma‑informed care models. These approaches, explained by Dr. Torres, involve community‑based counseling and peer‑support networks that specifically address the loss of home and cultural ties. The video also calls for integrating climate‑resilience training into medical curricula. “Medical students need to understand how climate events can trigger mental health crises so that they can be early responders,” says Dr. Patel.

A Call to Action

Ultimately, the video is a rallying cry that climate change is not just an environmental emergency; it is a mental‑health emergency. The experts interviewed underscore that the mental costs of inaction are already being paid in the form of increased anxiety, depression, trauma, and even suicide. To counteract this, the AP piece urges governments, health agencies, and private institutions to treat mental‑health impacts as a core component of climate policy.

“We can’t afford to separate the human mind from the planet’s health,” Dr. Torres concludes. “If we want a sustainable future, we have to build mental resilience alongside physical resilience.” The video ends with a countdown of concrete steps—such as green‑health budgets, climate‑psychology research funding, and policy mandates for climate‑resilient mental‑health services—that, if adopted, could safeguard both the planet and its people.