breadcrumb trail link
PMN News PMN Life PMN Health PMN Canada
Article author:
canadian press
jordan omstead
Published May 19, 2024 • 6 min read
Register for free here to save this article. Or sign in if you have an account.
As more Canadians face the devastating effects of climate change's extreme weather events, from wildfires to deadly heatwaves, how can people protect their mental health while continuing the fight for the health of the planet? The question of whether this is possible extends beyond the environmental movement. Urgent and widespread. Tuesday, May 14, 2024, wildfire near Flin Flon in northern Manitoba. Viewed from a helicopter surveying the situation. Photo: David Lipnowski/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Article content
TORONTO — Wildfire season was already raging in Western Canada when seven people joined us for our monthly support group meeting via Zoom in early May.
Toronto-based facilitator Kady Cowan began the conversation by encouraging others to acknowledge that climate change-related concerns weigh heavily on their minds. In a soothing voice, Cowan said she was worried about British Columbia's unprecedented “zombie fires” that devoured peat and tree roots over the winter and would return in the spring.
Advertisement 2
This ad has not yet loaded, but article continues below.
This content is reserved for subscribers
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Exclusive article by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay, Rex Murphy and others. Additionally, it will include special edition newsletters and virtual events from the NP platform and First Reading. Get unlimited online access to the National Post and 15 news sites with one account. The National Post ePaper is an electronic replica of the print version that you can view, share, and comment on on any device. Daily puzzles like the New York Times crossword. Support local journalism.
Subscribe for more articles
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Exclusive article by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay, Rex Murphy and others. Plus special editions of his NP Platform and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Get unlimited online access to the National Post and 15 news sites with one account. The National Post ePaper is an electronic replica of the print version that you can view, share, and comment on on any device. Daily puzzles like the New York Times crossword. Support local journalism.
Register/Sign in to unlock more articles
Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.
One account gives you access to articles across Canada. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles every month. Receive email updates from your favorite authors.
If you don't have an account, create one
or
Sign in without password New, new way to log in
Article content
Article content
The organization, which Cowan calls “Climate Sanctuary,” is a peer support group she founded more than four years ago for people in climate-related roles, both professional and volunteer, and is a Discussion gradually grew as other participants shared their concerns. The rest of the 90-minute meeting was punctuated by poetry readings, controlled breathing techniques, and opportunities to explore a range of emotions.
“It's not unusual to feel heartbroken as you watch the world evaporate around you, the things we all relied on disappear,” Cowan said in an interview. Told. “It's not an illness to worry about it.”
Climate peer support groups like Cowan are increasingly being recognized as one way to help build mental health resilience in a world that can sometimes seem indifferent to the effects of climate change.
At that session in early May, several in the group expressed relief at being able to connect with like-minded peers. That's important, Cowan says.
“A lot of people just want their feelings validated,” she says.
The group's impetus, Cowan said, came from the “huge disconnect” she felt between what scientists had to say about climate change and the failure of decision-makers to act on it.
Advertisement 3
This ad has not yet loaded, but article continues below.
Article content
Anger and resentment began to build, she said, and she had nowhere to go.
“People burn out easily in this job for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that the problems are so big that they feel overwhelmed,” says John, who has spent much of his career working on health initiatives. Cowan said. Making the care sector more environmentally sustainable.
But as more Canadians face the devastating effects of extreme weather events due to climate change, how can people continue the fight to protect the health of our planet while taking care of their mental health? The problem extends beyond environmental circles.
The mental health impacts of climate change are considered a pressing public health challenge in Canada, but remain largely underappreciated.
A report produced last year by the Public Health Agency of Canada, based on interviews with more than 20 leading public health experts, found that the impact has been underestimated and that Canada's health-care system is “underestimating this growing problem. “We are completely unprepared and understaffed to deal with this.”
Concerns about climate change are part of a larger public health challenge. It often refers to the heightened distress one feels over the impending threat of climate change. These fears may be rooted in direct experience with extreme weather events or exposure to climate change messages.
Advertisement 4
This ad has not yet loaded, but article continues below.
Article content
“There's a mental health crisis looming with anxiety about the climate crisis,” said Nate Charak, a Toronto psychiatrist who hosts group psychotherapy sessions focused on climate change.
Although it is not considered a mental illness and, in fact, some researchers argue is an appropriate response to the scale of the crisis, climate anxiety is characterized by symptoms such as fear, sleep disturbances, and obsessive thoughts. , which may interfere with daily life. .
“One of the big problems I think is that people don't feel like it's okay to feel some of the things that they're feeling,” Shalak says.
“That's where the mental health crisis happens, because I'm feeling that way and I'm told I can't feel that way, but I can't change that feeling of hopelessness and I'm stuck.”
This feeling of powerlessness and gridlock is one of the dangers of climate anxiety, says Alexis Palmer-Fluevogue, a Vancouver-based public health researcher.
Experts say support groups can help, as can participating in activities that could be seen as taking action on climate change.
Advertisement 5
This ad has not yet loaded, but article continues below.
Article content
Some of the most “successful interventions” against climate anxiety are getting people involved at the local level, such as by participating in neighborhood cleanups or environmental rallies, Palmerfluevorg said.
“There's something about them that makes them feel like they have agency,” said Palmer Fluevorg, executive director of the Mental Health and Climate Change Alliance.
But climate action doesn't always feel like an antidote to despair, especially when it's already a part of life, said Cowan, a peer support group facilitator. . “Action-oriented” responses to climate anxiety can sometimes seem to ignore or downplay how we interact with our emotions in the first place, she says.
“Until we get better at this relational work, we can’t face what’s in front of us,” she said.
Last year's PHAC report noted that data on climate anxiety in Canada is limited, but there are some signs of how widespread it is.
Researchers at Lakehead University surveyed people aged 16 to 25 across Canada and found that four in 10 reported that their feelings about climate change were having a negative impact on their daily lives. It turned out that
Advertisement 6
This ad has not yet loaded, but article continues below.
Article content
This has left some parents wondering how to support their children through growing sentiments about climate change.
Severn Caris Suzuki, daughter of environmental activist David Suzuki and now executive director of the Suzuki Foundation, said her teenage son went through a “very dark” period of depression. She said stories about humanity's ecological destruction made him so overwhelmed that he no longer wanted to be human and wanted to be another species.
In his struggles, she could also see parts of her own childhood.
“When we teach our children to love the earth and love nature, we also teach them to experience pain, because what we are doing to the earth right now is very, very Because it's painful,” she said.
Along with counseling, Charis Suzuki said one of the things that helped her son was community clean-ups, a way for him to see himself as part of the solution. When he was in a bad mood, heading to the beach or roadside to pick up trash would often quickly change his mood.
It also helped her sons, who are Haida through their father and grew up in the military, be exposed to a different story unfolding on the other side of the family.
Advertisement 7
This ad has not yet loaded, but article continues below.
Article content
“It's this story of recovery, this story of rebirth, this story of the rebirth of the (Haida) nation,” she said.
“What I want to convey to young people is that humanity is at a tipping point in its relationship with the natural world, especially with regard to indigenous thinking. And surprisingly, human societies where examples of other ways of living remain. still exists.”
Gitanmarks First Nation climate policy researcher Janna Wale said she is regularly reminded of her community's resilience to climate change. Wale, who is also Cree Métis on her mother's side, said her members have battled declining salmon populations, scorched huckleberry crops and intensifying wildfires.
She says the loss is something Indigenous communities have endured for a long time.
“I think for the most part, (communities) have been able to move beyond their fear of climate change and start thinking about ways to become more resilient,” said Wehr, who works at the Canadian Climate Institute. “We want to be part of building resilience for the next generation.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2024.
Article content
Share this article on your social networks
