IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i10p5882-d1151121.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Three Reasons Why Expecting ‘Recovery’ in the Context of the Mental Health Impacts of Climate Change Is Problematic

Author

Listed:
  • Jo Longman

    (University Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney, 61 Uralba Street, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia)

  • Rebecca Patrick

    (School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia)

  • Sarah Bernays

    (School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
    Department of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK)

  • Fiona Charlson

    (Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Queensland Health, Wacol, QLD 4076, Australia
    School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia
    Department of Global Health, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA)

Abstract

Global warming is bringing with it continued long-term changes in the climate system. Extreme weather-related events, which are already becoming a daily reality around the world, are predicted to be more intense and frequent in the future. The widespread occurrence of these events and climate change more broadly are being experienced collectively and at scale and do not affect populations evenly. These climate changes have profound impacts on mental health and wellbeing. Existing reactive responses include frequent implied and direct references to the concept of ‘recovery’. This is problematic in three ways: it conceives of extreme weather events as single, one-off occurrences; implies their unexpected nature; and contains an integral assumption of an end point where individuals/communities are ‘recovered’. Models of mental health and wellbeing support (including funding) need to change, shifting away from ‘recovery’ towards a focus on adaptation. We argue that this presents a more constructive approach that may be used to collectively support communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Jo Longman & Rebecca Patrick & Sarah Bernays & Fiona Charlson, 2023. "Three Reasons Why Expecting ‘Recovery’ in the Context of the Mental Health Impacts of Climate Change Is Problematic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-5, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:10:p:5882-:d:1151121
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/10/5882/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/10/5882/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Helen L. Berry & Thomas D. Waite & Keith B. G. Dear & Anthony G. Capon & Virginia Murray, 2018. "The case for systems thinking about climate change and mental health," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(4), pages 282-290, April.
    2. Veronica Matthews & Jo Longman & James Bennett-Levy & Maddy Braddon & Megan Passey & Ross S. Bailie & Helen L. Berry, 2020. "Belonging and Inclusivity Make a Resilient Future for All: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Post-Flood Social Capital in a Diverse Australian Rural Community," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-30, October.
    3. Ashlee Cunsolo & Neville R. Ellis, 2018. "Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(4), pages 275-281, April.
    4. Rosalind Gill & Shani Orgad, 2018. "The Amazing Bounce-Backable Woman: Resilience and the Psychological Turn in Neoliberalism," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(2), pages 477-495, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gemma Hayward & Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, 2021. "‘Seeing with Empty Eyes’: a systems approach to understand climate change and mental health in Bangladesh," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 1-30, March.
    2. Panu Pihkala, 2022. "The Process of Eco-Anxiety and Ecological Grief: A Narrative Review and a New Proposal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-53, December.
    3. Panu Pihkala, 2020. "Anxiety and the Ecological Crisis: An Analysis of Eco-Anxiety and Climate Anxiety," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-20, September.
    4. Csilla Ágoston & Benedek Csaba & Bence Nagy & Zoltán Kőváry & Andrea Dúll & József Rácz & Zsolt Demetrovics, 2022. "Identifying Types of Eco-Anxiety, Eco-Guilt, Eco-Grief, and Eco-Coping in a Climate-Sensitive Population: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-17, February.
    5. Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson & Anna Hoad & Mei L. Trueba, 2024. "‘My appetite and mind would go’: Inuit perceptions of (im)mobility and wellbeing loss under climate change across Inuit Nunangat in the Canadian Arctic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Panu Pihkala, 2020. "Eco-Anxiety and Environmental Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-38, December.
    7. Panu Pihkala, 2024. "Ecological Sorrow: Types of Grief and Loss in Ecological Grief," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-44, January.
    8. Liang, Chao & Xia, Zhenglan & Lai, Xiaodong & Wang, Lu, 2022. "Natural gas volatility prediction: Fresh evidence from extreme weather and extended GARCH-MIDAS-ES model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    9. Martín Bascopé & Kristina Reiss, 2021. "Place-Based STEM Education for Sustainability: A Path towards Socioecological Resilience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-16, July.
    10. Uma Jogulu & Esmé Franken, 2023. "The career resilience of senior women managers: A cross‐cultural perspective," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 280-300, January.
    11. Lennart Reifels & Michel L. A. Dückers, 2023. "Disaster Mental Health Risk Reduction: Appraising Disaster Mental Health Research as If Risk Mattered," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-14, May.
    12. Montira J. Pongsiri & Andrea M. Bassi, 2021. "A Systems Understanding Underpins Actions at the Climate and Health Nexus," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-15, March.
    13. Erica Burman, 2018. "(Re)sourcing the Character and Resilience Manifesto: Suppressions and Slippages of (Re)presentation and Selective Affectivities," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(2), pages 416-437, June.
    14. Isobel Sharpe & Colleen M. Davison, 2022. "A Scoping Review of Climate Change, Climate-Related Disasters, and Mental Disorders among Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-19, March.
    15. Alan E. Stewart & Harrison E. Chapman & Jackson B. L. Davis, 2023. "Anxiety and Worry about Six Categories of Climate Change Impacts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(1), pages 1-24, December.
    16. Rachel Clissold & Ellie Furlong & Karen E. McNamara & Ross Westoby & Anita Latai-Niusulu, 2023. "How Pacifika Arts Reveal Interconnected Losses for People and Place in a Changing Climate," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-19, April.
    17. Tanja M. Straka & Christian C. Voigt, 2022. "Threat Perception, Emotions and Social Trust of Global Bat Experts before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-17, September.
    18. Willian Sierra-Barón & Pablo Olivos-Jara & Andrés Gómez-Acosta & Oscar Navarro, 2023. "Environmental Identity, Connectedness with Nature, and Well-Being as Predictors of Pro-Environmental Behavior, and Their Comparison between Inhabitants of Rural and Urban Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-14, March.
    19. Lisa Woodland & Priyanjali Ratwatte & Revati Phalkey & Emma L. Gillingham, 2023. "Investigating the Health Impacts of Climate Change among People with Pre-Existing Mental Health Problems: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-33, April.
    20. Margaret I. Rolfe & Sabrina Winona Pit & John W. McKenzie & Jo Longman & Veronica Matthews & Ross Bailie & Geoffrey G. Morgan, 2020. "Social vulnerability in a high-risk flood-affected rural region of NSW, Australia," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 101(3), pages 631-650, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:10:p:5882-:d:1151121. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.