Reflection!

For today’s reading, I focused on Eva and Robert Gifford’s article, The largely unacknowledged impact of climate change on mental health. I initially took interest towards this article, as we have spent a majority of the semester discussing the ins and outs of climate change. Specifically, the ways in which climate change, pollution, natural disasters, and the policies intertwined with them impact communities physically. However, as my classmates and I have come to learn in this course, the impact of climate change is multifaceted and complex. The Gifford’s article delves into the mental component of climate change, which according to the article is neglected not only in climate discourse, but also in societal discourse at large.

Over the past semester, I have learned more about Hurricane Katrina in academia, than I could have ever predicted; mainly, from this course. From my perspective, the relevance and importance of Katrina is reiterated within the very first paragraph of this article. The article opens with the simple fact that “climate change is about more than rising sea levels and polar bears: it affects mental health too. Think about it: if you are the victim of a climate change-induced flood, you may lose not only your physical home but also your psychological home.” (Gifford, 292) In previous weeks, we have discussed the psychological impact of Katrina, and the aftermath that was riddled with heightened outbreaks of crime, violence, etc. (Gifford, 292) Yet, the article introduced the term “eco-anxiety,” which launches the psychological impact on New Orleanians during Hurricane Katrina into the present day.

As stated in the article, eco-anxiety is described as a sense of distress and fear rooted in the likelihood of environmental change. (Giffords, 292) Symptoms of eco-anxiety range from an inability to fall asleep to debilitating panic attacks, yet can vary depending on the individual, the likelihood of an environmental threat occuring, and the caliber of destruction and devastation it imposes. (Giffords, 292) Additionally, the effect of eco-anxiety can range depending on age, gender, race, etc. (Giffords, 292) Again, returning back to Katrina, when juxtaposing the levels of eco-anxiety in an individual who was able to escape before the peak of Katrina vs. a trans person of color unable to find shelter is vastly different.

In conclusion, I found this article to be all encompassing in regards to topics covered over the course of the semester, as well as very interesting. In regards to the environment and in society as whole, mental health must emerge to the forefront of discourse in order to make holistic, collaborative, and  long lasting change; and this article is taking a step in the right direction towards that.