Why Caring for the Earth Is Caring for Yourself
If you’re not naturally inclined to hug a tree, why bother caring for the environment? This Earth Day, here are a few reminders:
From fires to floods, climate change is daily affecting people’s lives – and mental health, according to the Dublin-based environmental advocacy platform The Planet Calls. Natural disasters and extreme weather events caused by human-created climate change are doing real damage to homes, communities, and livelihoods. Not only that, but these events leave stress, anxiety and depression in their wake, both for those who experience them and those who hear about them in the news.
People are increasingly suffering from eco-anxiety or climate anxiety, a term mental health providers have begun to use to describe a fear of ecological disaster or environmental damage. In response, some people turn to high-risk coping behaviors such as increased drug or alcohol use.
Studies have shown links between caring for nature and mental health:
- A 2019 study in Greenland showed “that the idea of living in a climate emergency was contributing to Greenlanders’ anxiety and depression.”
- A study published in Psychiatry Research showed that if children are exposed to air pollution at age 12, they become three or four times as likely to suffer from depression at age 18.
- On the positive side, nature can boost physical health and mental well-being. Spending time in nature “reduces blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension and the production of stress hormones.”
- Immersing oneself in nature or even viewing nature scenes has been shown to reduce fear, stress, and anger and to increase pleasant feelings. It can even decrease mortality.
- Studies have shown that even having a plant in a room can boost mental health and wellbeing.
So this Earth Day, you don’t have to hug a tree to feel better. While there are vast benefits to stepping outside, you just might have to view one.
Learn more at The Planet Calls.