Creator resource: The Truth Behind Climate Grief

The Center for Health Communication works to create toolkits and briefings that help content creators spread evidence-based health information on social media. The information provided is meant to be educational and is not a substitute for medical advice. This page was last updated on 12/20/24.

Key statistics

• 3.3 million premature deaths each year are caused by outdoor air pollution
• 75% of Gen Zers in the US say the environment affects their mental health
• 16x higher risk of depression for children who experience natural disasters
• 10 warmest years on record all occurred in the past 10 years

Understand the research

Climate change exacerbates mental health issues

• Mental health consequences of climate change range from low level stress to clinical disorders, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and suicidality.
• Having climate emotions is a valid and normal response to the climate crisis.
• Higher temperatures increase the rates of suicide. A study in Nature predicts that due to the effects of global warming, the United States and Mexico could experience anywhere between 9,000 to 40,000 additional suicides by the year 2050.
• Adverse Childhood Events, or ACEs, are traumatic events that can lead to social, emotional, and cognitive impairment on developing brains. Hurricanes, wildfires, and floods can be ACEs, especially when a child directly witnesses the loss of their home or the event results in the loss of a family member or friend.
• Children who were exposed to Hurricane Sandy in the womb had a 3x times higher risk of attention-deficit/disruptive behavioral disorders, 5x higher risk of anxiety disorders, and 16x higher risk of depressive disorders compared to children in the same region born before or after Sandy.

Content resources:

• Burke, M. et al | Higher temperatures increase suicide rates in the United States and Mexico | Nature Climate Change, 2018
• Nomura, Y., et al | Prenatal exposure to a natural disaster and early development of psychiatric disorders during the preschool years: stress in pregnancy study | The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2022
• Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health: A Scientific Assessment
• WHO Mental Health ATLAS | Data on mental health care and support

Audience Call to Action:

• Share Climate Mental Health Network resources
• Share Harvard Chan C-Change fact sheets
• Watch Extrapolations
• Share Gen Z Climate Mental Health film clip | Climate Mental Health Network
• Become a member of Climate Psychiatry Alliance

Hashtags:

• #EcoAnxiety, #ClimateMentalHealth, #HSPHCreatorsSummit

Under-resourced, frontline communities are most at risk for the detrimental effects of climate on mental health

• Communities that rely on the natural environment for sustenance & livelihood, as well as populations living in areas most susceptible to specific climate change events, are at increased risk for negative mental health outcomes as a result of climate change.
• Under-resourced communities have the least access to mental health resources to help them, especially after a disaster.
• Children who grow up with the lowest levels of green space have up to 55% higher risk of developing a psychiatric disorder than kids with access to the highest levels of green space.

Content resources:

• Engemann, K., et al | Residential green space in childhood is associated with lower risk of psychiatric disorders from adolescence into adulthood | PNAS, 2018
• Climate and Health Assessment | U.S. Global Change Research Program
• Project EMPOWER | Harvard initiative to expand training for providers.

Audience Call to Action:

• Follow Queer Brown Vegan
• Sign up for Global Mental Health newsletter | Latest in efforts to transform mental health care

Hashtags:

• #ClimateAction, #MentalHealthSupport, #HSPHCreatorsSummit

The mental health impacts of high temperatures and extreme weather must be incorporated into plans for the public health response to high temperatures

• Climate change, climate anxiety, and inadequate government response are all chronic stressors that can threaten the mental health and well-being of young people around the world.
• Research suggests that an effective advocacy message should convey 1. The significant consequences of climate change 2. Actionable solutions 3. A clear call to action 4. Intergenerational collaboration.
• Increasing individual and community resilience, promoting connectedness to culture and community, helping people develop a sense of agency to take action, fostering courage, and increasing green space (+ access to it) can help alleviate the mental health consequences of climate change.

Content resources:

• Hickman, C., et al | Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey | The Lancet, 2021

Audience Call to Action:

• Listen to Brown Girl Green podcast
• Share Young People Climate Emotion resources | Climate Mental Health Network
• Share WHO policy recommendations

Hashtags:

• #CommunityResilience, #ClimateSolutions, #HSPHCreatorsSummit

Additional resources

• Support Group Guide | National Alliance on Mental Illness
• Best practices and recommendations for talking about suicide | Reporting on Suicide
• Find support for yourself or those who may be at risk for suicide | AFSP Suicide Prevention
• Find resources to improve your mental wellness | Project Healthy Minds for Harvard Chan School’s Creators Summit on Mental Health

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