Urgent action needed to address mental health risks of climate change

This week’s report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been rightly labelled “an atlas of human suffering” by UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres. 

Research from 196 countries confirms climate change is destroying our mental health. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events and the destruction of the natural world are contributing to mental illness on a massive scale.

Floods, hurricanes, wildfires and drought will become even more intense and force more communities to flee their home, with Indigenous people bearing the brunt.

Pollution and warmer weather are fuelling increases in anxiety, depression and other common mental health problems. One US study found a one-degree rise in temperature was associated with a 17% increase in these and other common conditions.

Effects on mental health

Higher temperatures are making existing mental health problems worse, with studies showing heat waves lead to higher demand for mental health services and more hospitalisations. 

Exposure to flooding, hurricanes and wildfires is leaving people with significant mental scars, as one in three people experience post-traumatic stress disorder following an extreme weather event.

We’re creating a new generation of climate refugees facing significant mental health challenges.

Up to 3.6 billion people – 40% of the world’s population – are deemed “highly vulnerable” to the impacts of climate change. Those most at risk include children, young people, the elderly and those with existing mental and physical health problems.

Without urgent action to stop temperatures rising above 1.5 degrees, the mental health impact of climate change will become infinitely worse. 

Millions are at risk of developing anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other serious conditions.

Mental illness not only affects quality of life, it also cuts lives short. People with severe mental illness die up to 20 years earlier than the rest of the population. 

We know the ramifications of climate and ecological emergencies are increasingly noticeable in the UK as well. Flooding - which is associated with anxiety, depression and PTSD in survivors - is the most common disaster in the UK. Due to climate change floods are increasing in frequency and severity.

'We must do more'

This week’s report must serve as a call to action for everyone including those of us working in healthcare. We must do much more to reduce our impact on the environment. The carbon footprint of UK healthcare is larger than total carbon footprint of Estonia and Slovenia combined. The US healthcare system emits more carbon than the entire UK population. 

This damning report validates the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ decision last year to declare a climate and ecological emergency. The College has called for international cooperation and urgent action from governments to tackle the crisis. 

We need to make healthcare much more sustainable. NHS’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions and its aim to be the world’s first net-zero national health service will play a key part in this.  

Every new doctor, nurse and health care worker must be taught about the importance of delivering healthcare that is sustainable, preventative and that promotes connections with our natural environment. 

From 2022, every new psychiatrist will receive sustainability education as part of their specialist training. We also need to empower patients to have a much greater say in their treatment so they can co-produce more sustainable care. 

The pandemic has demonstrated our collective ability to act swiftly to protect public health and to completely change the way we structure our lives in the process.  As we emerge from the pandemic, let’s channel our energies into tackling the climate emergency. The health of our planet and all those who inhabit it demands nothing less.