Hopeful climate commitment can reduce mental distress

Climate concern is associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety in Finns of all ages. However, these symptoms are less common in people whose climate-related hope is combined with various forms of action, such as volunteering, following a plant-based diet, or avoiding air travel. Hope that society is capable of mitigating climate change is also associated with fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Conducted in more than 5,000 Finnish adults, the study examined the associations of climate concern, efficacy-based climate hope, and climate action with mental health, specifically symptoms of depression and anxiety.

A commitment to climate action, along with climate hope, can be a constructive way for individuals to channel their climate concerns and climate anxiety. They can protect people’s mental health and support their bodies in the midst of the climate crisis.

For this reason, it is important that individuals have more real opportunities to influence climate change mitigation. We need clear information about what climate actions really have an impact and how different people can get involved.”

Veera Nieminen, PhD researcher at the University of Eastern Finland and lead author of the study

It is also important that society as a whole commits to effective climate action. This commitment supports not only efforts to mitigate climate change and safeguard planetary well-being, but also the mental health of individuals.

“Mitigating the climate crisis cannot be left to individuals. However, social structures and reforms must be designed in a way that creates a solid foundation for meaningful action at the individual level.”

The climate crisis is also a mental health crisis. As climate change evolves, we need a greater understanding of its effects on mental health and ways to support mental health in the midst of the climate crisis.

“Investing in climate organizations and effective climate actions could both reduce the effects of the climate crisis on mental health and foster the kind of behavioral engagement that societies in the global North will need, in any case,” concludes Nieminen.