Britt Wray: How Climate Change Affects Your Mental Health
-Although the climate crisis is being reported on constantly, there is little popular data showing the psychological effects of living in a warming world.
-Data has been around for years that demonstrates the anxiety, grief, and depression of climate scientists.
-After natural disasters, there are often spikes in depression, suicide, and ptsd in the areas affected.
-On top of this, data shows that many people have growing conflict avoidance, helplessness, and resignation reactions to the climate crisis, if only subconsciously.
-The climate crisis has led to increased popularity in movements like “BirthStrike”.
-Movements like these put participants into difficult places; it makes them chose between their lifestyle choices and popular moral decisions.
-People are told that their lifestyles are to blame for the climate crisis, when in reality the problem is much more systematic.
-However, the movement is still working, and tons of people are siding with it.
-Climate change is also very good at targeting the communities already struggling to survive, thus have it more people putting pressure on them to change when they truly aren’t to blame.
-It’s a sign that climate change is truly starting to hit home that more informed women are deciding not to have children. (That is, women who traditionally would choose to have children, it’s all cultural or religious and based on personal choice.)
-Climate change is so hard hitting that students aren’t signing up for universities because they can’t see a future for themselves.
-Even so, plenty of people aren’t doing anything. So how can we get this to change?
Sounds like an interesting TED Talk.
ReplyDeleteIt really was! It was an interesting perspective on the issue that isn't often talked about, but it's so prevalent that it's putting a hamper on making a change. I hadn't thought about it like this before now!
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