{"id":261628,"date":"2023-06-11T15:40:22","date_gmt":"2023-06-11T13:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=261628"},"modified":"2023-06-11T15:40:25","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T13:40:25","slug":"climate-anxiety-doomsday-cult-or-mental-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=261628","title":{"rendered":"Climate Anxiety: Doomsday Cult or Mental Illness?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essay by Eric Worrall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Welcome to Jonestown. By Jonestown Institute, Attribution,\u00a0Link<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2026 \u201cOver half think humanity is doomed, 56% worldwide, 51% in the UK, 73% in the Philippines,\u201d Ms Hickman says.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Climate change is harming my mental health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Morven Mckinnon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BBC Scotland News<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until two years ago Jennifer Newall was working at the forefront of climate change research. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt dawned on me,\u201d she says. \u201cThe physics behind this haven\u2019t changed in my lifetime. They\u2019re not going to change going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer says she realised action was needed urgently and she no longer had the passion or motivation to continue studying the effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Over half think humanity is doomed\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a growing recognition that environmental change affects not just physical but also mental health \u2013 although there is still relatively little research into the cognitive impact of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Bath University lecturer, psychotherapist and researcher Caroline Hickman and her colleagues examined data from 10,000 young people, aged 16 to 25, living in 10 different countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About half of those who took part in the survey reported feeling sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless or guilty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study, published in Lancet Planetary Health,<\/a> found that while threats faced in different countries varied \u2013 from food insecurity to pollution or flooding \u2013 there were similar levels of anxiety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver half think humanity is doomed, 56% worldwide, 51% in the UK, 73% in the Philippines,\u201d Ms Hickman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo there\u2019s more closeness in relationship. Being at a distance from it physically doesn\u2019t protect you from the emotional and cognitive impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026Read more: https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk-scotland-65633082<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The abstract of the study;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n