Reflection on Climate Change – Climate Change Action in Our Mind

Climate change is the focus of interest in numerous sectors, natural and social sciences, and it presents a challenge for policies of various professions. Along with pandemics and humanitarian crises, climate change represents the greatest threat to the human population and all living things on the planet. Climate change will have far-reaching negative consequences on human health, both physical and mental. For all these reasons, the challenges of climate change are a priority that brings together all world leaders and one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals is dedicated to them.

Today, climate change is felt at the individual and group level, at the community level and globally. It affects changes in living conditions in urban areas, where the largest agglomerations of the population are. It reminds us that our selfish behaviour has brought about changes that damage our health and threaten biocenosis and the rest of the living world.

The importance of climate for health has always been my favourite lesson. My specialization has a wonderful name – hygiene, named after the goddess of health, and is defined as the science of health. Hygiene studies environmental factors and their impact on health, trying to favour those that contribute to health and to minimize the effects of those that harm it. All medical sciences today are interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, but the way in which hygiene interacts with other professions is still specific. Thus, my love for mental hygiene and commitment to mental health led me to new challenges – group analysis education. Even after many years of experience and learning, I often return to the connection between medical ecology and mental hygiene.

Today, the connection between climate change and mental health is a hot debated topic. The connection between environmental and mental health has been increasingly present in the scientific and professional world. The purpose of this article is to trigger a more intensive thinking on the topic of climate change and climate action among group analysts. In their process and analytical reflections, group analysts deal not only with the individual in the group, but also with groups, communities and various social phenomena.

From the role of a public health professional, I underline that hygiene as a preventive science emphasizes that human beings always strive to live in the community, believing that the community will provide them with a better quality and meaningful life, secure infrastructure, as well as much-needed energy. That primary aspiration has led to the fact that the dominant share of people in urban areas still mostly live in fundamentally inadequate, unhygienic conditions in an environment with insufficient infrastructure or a completely unorganized environment. Even in fully organized and developed environments, exposure to negative environmental factors intensifies due to climate change (water pollution, air pollution, waste, noise, natural disasters), so that lately we are encountering their increasingly strong influence. Consequently, the importance of considering the state of mental health of the population is growing. Urban environments are becoming places where the consequences of climate change are evidently strongly felt. There are also challenges regarding human rights, inequality.  Population that belongs to vulnerable groups are particularly at risk. Helplessness, loneliness, suffering and depression are frequent indirect consequences of evident climate changes and changes in living conditions in urban areas.

In academic papers, the effects of climate change on mental health are thoroughly described. The connection of floods, droughts, heat waves and other weather disasters with an increased frequency of depressive disorders and anxiety states is emphasized, and there are also studies that indicate an increased risk of suicide. Other impacts of climate change are also important, such as existential threats and migration, which negatively affect mental health, and which lead to helplessness, insecurity, apathy, depression, and even suicidal thoughts.

Existing studies warn of anxiety, the causes of which should be sought in climate change, which is becoming more and more noticeable. Cognitive, emotional and behavioral reactions, marked worry, psychological distress or difficulty sleeping are possible, and in the long term can reduce an individual’s ability to fully engage in work, school or relationships.

All this indicates that individual and group psychotherapy work should take into account climate change as a global challenge not only in terms of resources, energy, physical health, but also in the mental health of the individual and his capacities for daily work, contribution to the community and involvement in actions, as well as capacity for individual efforts in the fight against climate change.

The World Health Organization recommends, among other things, to integrate the topic of climate change in mental health programs; to integrate mental health support with climate action; and also highlights the large gap in funding for mental health and psychosocial support.

Instead of giving in to despair about climate change, motivation for climate action is needed, as well as a holistic approach in the pursuit of quality life and well-being. This also means that there is a need for additional education of psychotherapists of various modalities, and especially group therapists in the field of climate change, in order to understand the importance of this global challenge and the need for individual and joint climate action. The wealth that working in a group gives us is the potential for contributing to the prevention of mental disorders and the preservation of mental health in conditions of pronounced threats that are present due to climate change.

It could be said that we have greatly disturbed the planet and it returns to us with the symptoms of air pollution, climate changes, and consequently droughts, floods, bad weather and similar phenomena. These are very significant public health challenges, and group analysis, with its methods and way of working, has the ability to contribute to resolving doubts and anxiety related to climate change and strengthening the capacity for climate action thanks to the group analytical matrix.

I take this opportunity to share my thoughts from the perspective of a doctor dealing with public health and a group analyst with experience working with groups of students and young people, where I observed their sincere concern, fear and wonder about the future and the quality of life ahead of them. It seems that the role of public health and the role of group analysis are compatible and that they strengthen each other in the processes of changing the behavior of individuals and groups (environmental behavior). As the EU climate pact ambassador, I advocate all actions that provide a safer future for the human population and other living beings, convinced that group analysis can make a significant contribution to this.

Marija Jevtic, MD PhD

Public health expert

Group analyst

University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine

GAS International, GAS Belgrade

EU Climate Pact Ambassador

zdravlje.marija.jevtic@gmail.com