Crazy Climate Change

Does the increase of mental illness correlate to the increase of sea levels?

Does the increased rates of floods and droughts have anything to do with the increased rates of depression and suicide?

Does the depletion of forests and natural habitats have anything to do with the depletion of our collective mental health?

As thousands march in New York City for the People’s Climate March to call world leaders accountable for our role in climate change, another crisis looms in the shadows, the mental health crisis.

And this crisis of climate change is interconnected with this crisis of mental health. One of the thought leaders in this realm is Richard Louv, the author of the groundbreaking book, The Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.

Louv analyzes how children’s infrequent exposure to healthy natural environments contributes to the rising numbers of children diagnosed with mental illness.

Louv writes:

Yet at the very moment that the bond is breaking between the young and the natural world, a growing body of research links our mental, physical, and spiritual health directly to our association with nature–in positive ways.

There are many reasons we need to take serious measures to slow down climate change. Our current way of life on planet Earth is unsustainable. We cannot ignore climate change anymore.

Research confirms that the Earth can play a critical role in preventing, treating, and recovering from mental illness. If we don’t do something now to heal the planet, then this crazy climate change is going to make us all crazy.