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Changing climate can affect people's psyche
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
Climate and environmental changes on the planet pose a danger not only to the agricultural industry and megacities, but also to human mental health, according to the Huffington Post.
The American Psychological Association and the environmental group EcoAmerica have jointly produced a report detailing the impact of global climate change on the human psyche. The report is titled “The State of Mind and the Current Changing Climate: Impacts, Consequences, and Tips.” In it, the experts discuss their findings that many people around the world are being affected by climate and ecology, which leads to stress, anxiety, restlessness, and depression. Some people are also developing suicidal tendencies or severe mental disorders.
The authors of the report argue that natural disasters directly influence the development of periodic and permanent mental disorders in people who have had the chance to observe such disasters. For example, in 2014, the lands of East Africa, New Zealand and France were subjected to extreme weather changes - from severe drought to record rainfall. Among the population that experienced such events, a large number of patients with psychological trauma were subsequently recorded - and this is not a coincidence. Some of these people lost their loved ones due to the disaster, some lost their property: as a result, their mental health suffered.
Among those who suffered the devastation of Hurricane Katrina (in 2005), one in six people were later diagnosed with a mental disorder. Years later, these people were found to have suicidal thoughts and attempts, severe depression or affective disorders.
Experts also noted that excessive global warming has increased irritability and suicide rates among the population. In the United States alone, the number of heat events has tripled in the past year. Abnormal heat has caused increased aggression in people, which subsequently led to harm to themselves or others.
According to statistics, abnormal heat is associated with an increase in the wave of murders and suicides, since an increase in ambient temperature can really have a negative impact on the psyche of people with existing disorders.
Another category of people who have experienced the negative impact of climate change are forced migrants. According to the latest statistics, over the next thirty years, at least 200 million people will have to change their place of residence due to environmental disasters, as rising sea levels lead to certain problems in many regions. The loss of their homeland and the resulting feeling of instability in most migrants often leads to various mental disorders.
The data obtained should be used to predict the situation and provide all possible assistance to the victims.