MHM Magazine

INTRODUCTION Climate change has long surpassed being a threat and we are amid a climate emergency. It can feel overwhelming with local and global messages and campaigns about going green, recycling, reducing carbon emissions, and saving the planet. What is often missed is how we care for ourselves while living in a state of global warming and its far-reaching consequences. The increasing awareness and concern about the environmental crisis, coupled with the visible effects of climate change such as extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and ecosystem disruptions, contribute to feelings of distress, helplessness, and fear about the future. Climate change can directly and indirectly cause disruptive human pathologies that are physical and mental. Although the climate crisis is a global one, it has incontestably more destructive and noticeable effects on communities living in the Global South, which have been marginalised and have fewer resources to adapt or respond to natural catastrophes. The global call to reduce carbon emissions puts limits on countries in the Global South to grow economies to equitable and comparable levels, with people already experiencing inequitable access to healthcare and whose livelihoods are affected by climate change events ECO-ANXIETY AND ECO-DISTRESS Climate change can have profound psychological impacts on individuals and communities, giving rise to a phenomenon known as eco- anxiety. Sometimes referred to as eco-distress or climate anxiety, eco-anxiety refers to a chronic fear of environmental doom and a sense of loss or impending catastrophe due to the worsening state of the planet. It can manifest in various ways, including anxiety, depression, feelings of grief, anger, or guilt related to personal carbon footprints, or the perceived lack of action taken to address climate change. In countries such as South Africa, we are also susceptible to feeling powerless in the fight against climate change due to other immediate pressing challenges such as lack of resources, unaffordable living costs, and not having the means to contribute to climate action. There are many examples of climate-induced events in the South African context. Since 1980, there have been 86 weather-related disasters, which have affected more than 22 million people and have cost more than R113 billion in losses. In 2018, Cape Town weathered the "Day Zero" water crisis, nearly becoming the world's first major metro to run out of water. Record-breaking water scarcity like that experienced during the water crisis exacerbates urban fires. Fires are further exacerbated by densely populated low-income housing and reliance on fire and gas IT’S NOT ONLY THE ENVIRONMENT WE NEED TO PROTECT – IT’S OUR MENTAL HEALTH TOO Lynn Hendricks, PhD 1,2,3 lynnah@sun.ac.za 1 Division of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University. 2 Executive Member, Division for Climate, Environment and Sustainable Psychology, Psychological Society of South Africa. 3 Director, Research Ambition (Pty) 22 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 2023 | Issue 6 MHM