2023-10-11 11:42:10
Climate change might play a major role in affecting the mental health of children and teens, according to a new report from the American Psychiatric Association.
The report, written in collaboration with EcoAmerica, documents how environmental events linked to climate change, including natural disasters, extreme heat, and poor air quality, can trigger or worsen mental health problems in people. Children and teenagers, according to CNN.
The report says natural disasters can trigger PTSD in these groups, while long-term problems, such as extreme heat, dehydration, and poor air quality, can increase the risks of anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and cognitive impairment.
“Our report documents the psychological toll that climate change is now causing to our nation’s children and teens,” wrote Dr. Dennis P. Stoll, senior director of applied psychology at the American Psychiatric Association, who co-authored the report. This is not an issue we can wait and solve later. “As a society, we must act now.”
For her part, Dr. Sue Clayton, a professor of psychology at the College of Worcester, who also co-wrote the report, said that children are more vulnerable to mental health consequences resulting from climate change. Because they may not have the coping strategies that adults have.
Children in Manila Bay search for remnants left behind by Typhoon Haima in October 2016 (AFP)
She added: “Also, if a parent is exposed to stress due to the hardships associated with an environmental event, such as extreme heat or forest fires, this may affect their children’s mental health. “Exposure to trauma at an early age can have lifelong effects on mental health and well-being.”
The report says that mental health consequences begin even before a child is born, noting that prenatal exposure of fetuses to natural disasters, high temperatures, and air pollution can increase their risk of developing a variety of behavioral and developmental problems, including anxiety, depression, and hyperactivity disorder. Movement, attention deficit, developmental delay, low self-control, and psychological disorders.
These consequences can affect the development of the nervous system, Clayton said, and are often untreatable.
The researchers pointed out that children and adolescents around the world do not suffer from these harmful effects of climate change to the same level or in the same way, stressing that those from marginalized or low-income communities are more vulnerable to developing mental health problems, compared to others.
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