Let’s talk Climate Change and Mental Health

Climate Change X Mental Health

The loss of place is a profound and ambiguous loss. It strips us of our sense of belonginess and creates what feels like an attempt to erode away indelible childhood memories. It represents the loss of traditions, the loss of community and the loss of history. And while we are forced to move forward with this grief, without closure, our connection to a particular place is gone forever.

When I think about loss of place, I think about my mother and her community connection to a neighborhood in New Orleans, known as the 7^th ward. My mom can trace her family roots back eight generations, to that exact neighborhood. When she describes childhood memories, growing up in the 7^th ward, her face lights up as she tells stories of deep cultural ties, traditions, family connections and social relationships. These are all protective factors that can serve as a buffer to the stress associated with systemic racism and structural inequities.

A few years ago, my mom and I went to lunch and I drove her through her old neighborhood. As we drove past the street that she grew up on, she became tearful. She said her neighborhood was unrecognizable. My heart ached for my mom. Although the physical space of her childhood neighborhood was still be there, its “essence” had been altered, leading to a form of ambiguous loss.

Solastalgia is a specific term coined to describe the sentimental longing we can feel for a traditional way of life or childhood landscape destroyed by environmental changes.  In my mother’s case, the loss of her treasured places was due to systemic racism, including the racist legacy of the I-10 Claiborne Expressway, and extreme weather events caused by climate change which resulted in Hurricane Katrina. Solastalgia can disrupt your sense of belonging and security. It disrupted my mother’s sense of belonging to her native community….her native neighborhood…the 7^th ward.

Solastalgia is also a form of ambiguous loss to succeeding generations that were robbed of the opportunity to have these embedded protective factors in their community. New Orleans post-Katrina recovery is marked by forced resilience. Many of the protective factors that were built into our community were stripped away by Hurricane Katrina, leaving us more vulnerable to emotional distress and subsequently less equipped to handle community trauma such as natural disasters.

Years ago, when I worked as a school social worker, we were doing an icebreaker activity, and the students where sharing what part of the city they were from and I will never forget a student sharing that she was from the Scattered Sites. This confused me because the Scattered Sites were destroyed before she was born. It was fascinating to me that she was considering this her place of orgin. When I challenged her, she said, “that’s where my people are from.”

Succeeding generations continue to experience the need to belong to a community, even if they never experienced being a part of a particular community (as it relates to place). This was an incredibly powerful moment that sharpened my understanding of community identity and it’s connection to feeling seen and belonging.

Let’s explore the stages of emotional stress caused by the climate crisis.

Unknowing (Innocence)

During this stage, we may be unaware of the impact that climate change can have on an individual level. Perhaps we are not connecting it to outrageous electricity bills, excessive heat, and in the case of New Orleans, the extreme heat and it’s potential impact on our beloved Crawfish Season.

Semi-consciousness

As we come into this awakening and understanding of the direct impact of the climate crisis on our lives and well-being, some may become more curious about climate change and seek knowledge and information, while others may choose to avoid the topic altogether.

Coping and Changing

As we grapple with the threat of climate change to the world, as we know it, moving to a place of action, by taking better care of the planet and ourselves can be a source of healing.  It is important to achieve harmony by taking breaks from action through healthy distancing through self-care. Healthy Distancing and taking breaks from action should be distinguished from problematic avoidance.

If you find that you are in a stage of coping marked by emotional grief, here are a few tips to help you navigate this stage:

• Listening to what you feel in your body and responding to those needs
• Acceptance of your feelings 
• Share – emotional expression
• Support groups (shared feelings, shared experience)