Often when we talk about climate change and mental health, there is an emphasis on the grief and loss associated with environmental changes that surround us, or what author and eco-philosopher Glenn Albrecht termed #Solastalgia. In the context of #managedretreat and #climatemigration, there is also a lot of discussion around the grief associated with having to consider moving away from the homes, neighborhoods, and communities that people love.
Supporting these conversations with mental health resources is one side of the story, but what about the other side of climate change's impacts on #mentalhealth?
💔Buy-In has been surveying households across the country who have lived through flooding events to understand how flooding has impacted their lives. In one community that lived through Hurricane Katrina, 40% of surveyed households self reported that they or someone in their family experience stress, anxiety, or emotional trauma from flooding, even 20 years later. In another community that recently experienced a hurricane, this number was reported as high as 86%. In a small town with frequent evacuations from flash flooding, the number is 84% .
💡 Across these and other partner communities, anywhere from 40-80% of households would consider relocating to keep to keep their families safe, if they received fair compensation to do so. Thinking about moving is hard, but being trapped without resources to become resilient in place or relocate is also causing significant mental health burdens for communities on the frontline.
🌟 Community leaders not only bear their own trauma, but are often carriers of the burden of grief and loss for many of their community members as they fight for the resources to help communities adapt to climate impacts.
I'm excited to share that Buy-In Community Planning and our partners Climigration Network and Anthropocene Alliance members David Southgate, MS, MPA and Camille Hadley received a Community Innovators Grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to explore how community leaders are currently coping with these challenges in their communities and develop a broader program to support them and their communities in the years to come.
Stay tuned for more updates, and please share any resources you may have that are relevant to this topic in the comments!
https://lnkd.in/gffJWjyb
Professor of Anthropology and Environmental Studies
6moGreat work you're doing in NC!