Climate anxiety: psychiatrists explain the topic with Dr. Kalil
Climate change has become one of the main concerns of young people and adults around the world, giving rise to a phenomenon called climate anxiety.
The topic was addressed by psychiatrists Camila Magalhães Silveira, from Hospital Sírio Libanês, and Guilherme Polanczyk, professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (FMUSP), on the CNN Sinais Vitais program, with Dr. Roberto Kalil.
What is climate anxiety?
According to Camila, it is a new phenomenon, driven by the fact that climate change has become the main global issue in terms of real impact. "In Brazil, for example, we have 40 million people who are exposed to climatic situations", he stated.
The expert explains that climate anxiety manifests itself in two ways: one directly, experienced by those who personally suffer the effects of disasters - as occurred during the floods in Rio Grande do Sul - and the other related to social impacts, such as the loss of jobs and livelihoods resulting from changes in the climate.
Young people are the most affected
The psychiatrist also highlighted that teenagers are the group that suffers most from this type of anxiety. According to her, young people question which planet is being left to them and why the climate issue is not treated as the main global issue. "Since if the world is threatened, all other things become secondary in the logic of teenagers", he said.
A study called PENSE, carried out with more than 120 thousand Brazilian students, revealed that almost half of them say they are worried almost all the time - about the future, about the world, about work and about the effects of the climate on their lives and families.
How the phenomenon reaches the office
Guilherme explained that these concerns reach the brains of children and adolescents mainly in the form of uncertainty. "Uncertainty, along with a feeling that I can't do anything, that this is something that is out of my control, are very big drivers of anxiety," he said.
The specialist highlighted that, clinically, the most common condition observed in the office is anxiety, but that the phenomenon can also manifest itself as mood changes, pessimism, feelings of negativity towards life and the future, irritability and behavioral changes.
"These cultural and social phenomena affect the brain in very different ways, the most common being anxiety", concluded the psychiatrist.
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Source: CNN