Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T14:32:26.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 5 - Neuropsychiatric Perspectives on the Biology of Anxiety and Youth Climate Distress

from Part I - Conceptual Foundations of Climate Distress in Young People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2024

By
Jacob Lee  and
Anthony Guerrero
Edited by
Elizabeth Haase  and
Kelsey Hudson
Elizabeth Haase
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Reno
Kelsey Hudson
Affiliation:
Climate Psychology Alliance North America
Get access

Summary

Many young people report that anxiety in the face of climate change causes impairing levels of distress. Understanding their anxiety includes understanding neurochemical changes to their brains in the face of rising temperatures, natural disasters, disease pandemics, and other stressors. By learning about the ways in which the developing brain balances safety and exploration behaviors, we can encourage resilience and avoid climate-related despair, helping children and adolescents navigate this unprecedented crisis.

Keywords

eco-anxietyyouthstressclimate changemental healthbiologyneurologyneuropsychiatryneuroanatomyamygdale
Type
Chapter
Information
Climate Change and Youth Mental Health
Multidisciplinary Perspectives
 , pp. 93 - 110
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adebäck, P., Schulman, A., & Nilsson, D. (2018). Children exposed to a natural disaster: Psychological consequences eight years after 2004 tsunami. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 72(1), 75–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/08039488.2017.1382569.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Afifi, W. A., Felix, E. D., & Afifi, T. D. (2012). The impact of uncertainty and communal coping on mental health following natural disasters. Anxiety Stress and Coping, 25(3), 329–347. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2011.603048.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Agyapong, V. I. O., Hrabok, M., Juhás, M., Omeje, J., Denga, E., Nwaka, B., … Li, X. (2018). Prevalence rates and predictors of Generalized Anxiety Disorder symptoms in residents of Fort McMurray six months after a wildfire. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00345CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Albrecht, G. (2011). Chronic environmental change: Emerging “psychoterratic” syndromes. In International and cultural psychology series (pp. 43–56). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9742-5_3Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amstadter, A. B., Koenen, K. C., Ruggiero, K. J., Acierno, R., Galea, M. D., Kilpatrick, D. G., & Gelernter, J. (2010). NPY moderates the relation between hurricane exposure and generalized anxiety disorder in an epidemiologic sample of hurricane-exposed adults. Depression and Anxiety, 27(3), 270–275. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20648CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bassilios, B., Reifels, L., & Pirkis, J. (2012). Enhanced primary mental health services in response to disaster. Psychiatric Services, 63(9), 868–874. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201100534.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berry, H. L., Bowen, K., & Kjellstrom, T. (2010). Climate change and mental health: A causal pathways framework. International Journal of Public Health, 55(2), 123–132. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-009-0112-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Canino, G. J., Bravo, M., Rubio-Stipec, M., & Woodbury, M. (1990). The impact of disaster on mental health: Prospective and retrospective analyses. International Journal of Mental Health, 19(1), 51–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207411.1990.11449153CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.). Climate change and infectious diseases. www.cdc.gov/ncezid/what-we-do/climate-change-and-infectious-diseases/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Clayton, S. (2020a). Climate anxiety: Psychological responses to climate change. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 74, 102263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102263CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clayton, S. (2020b). The insidious impacts of climate change: Mood, mental health, and psychosocial well-being. One Earth, 2(6), 530–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.05.019CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Climate Change’s Toll on Mental Health (2017). www.apa.org, Press release, March 29. www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/03/climate-mental-healthGoogle Scholar
Conrad, C. D. (2011). The handbook of stress: Neuropsychological effects on the brain. John Wiley &Sons.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dulcan, M. K. (2021). Dulcan’s textbook of child and adolescent psychiatry (3rd ed.). AmericanPsychiatric Pub.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzgerald, K. D., Schroder, H. S., & Marsh, R. (2021). Cognitive control in pediatric obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders: Brain-behavioral targets for early intervention. Biological Psychiatry, 89(7), 697–706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.11.012CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freud, S. (1919). The “Uncanny.” In The complete psychological works (Vol. XVII, pp. 217–56). Hogarth Press, 1955.Google Scholar
Gerhard, D. M., Meyer, H. C., & Lee, F. S. (2021). An adolescent sensitive period for threat responding: Impacts of stress and sex. Biological Psychiatry, 89(7), 651–658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.10.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gifford, R. (2011). The dragons of inaction: Psychological barriers that limit climate change mitigation and adaptation. American Psychologist, 66(4): 290–302. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023566CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gruber, J. (2009). Introduction, in Gruber, J. (Ed.), Risky behavior among youths: An economic analysis (pp. 5–12). University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Hammack, S. E., Todd, T. P., Kocho-Schellenberg, M., & Bouton, M. E. (2015). Role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in the acquisition of contextual fear at long or short context-shock intervals. Behavioral Neuroscience, 129(5), 673–678. doi: 10.1037/bne0000088CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hrabok, M., Delorme, A., & Agyapong, V. I. (2020). Threats to mental health and well-being associated with climate change. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 76, 102295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102295CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, C. A., & Davison, A. (2021). Disempowering emotions: The role of educational experiences in social responses to climate change. Geoforum, 118, 190–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.11.006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kapeller, M. L., & Jäger, G. (2020). Threat and anxiety in the climate debate: An agent-based model to investigate climate scepticism and pro-environmental behavior. Sustainability, 12(5), 1823. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051823CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karlsson, L. (2011). Vermont climate change health effects adaptation [White paper]. Vermont Department of Health. https://anr.vermont.gov/sites/anr/files/specialtopics/climate/documents/VTCCwhitepapers/VTCCAdaptHealthEffects%20.pdfGoogle Scholar
Kenwood, M. M., & Kalin, N. H. (2021). Nonhuman primate models to explore mechanisms underlying early-life temperamental anxiety. Biological Psychiatry, 89(7), 659–671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.08.028CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lazarov, A., & Bar-Haim, Y. (2021). Emerging domain-based treatments for pediatric anxiety disorders. Biological Psychiatry, 89(7), 716–725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.08.030CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maclean, J. C., Popovici, I., & French, M. T. (2016). Are natural disasters in early childhood associated with mental health and substance use disorders as an adult? Social Science & Medicine, 151, 78–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.01.006.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Madakasira, S. & O’Brien, K.F. (1987). Post-traumatic stress disorder following disasters: A systematic review. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175, 286–290. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005053-198705000-00008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mobbs, D., Hagan, C. C., Dalgleish, T., Silston, B., & Pravost, C. (2015). The ecology of human fear: Survival optimization and the nervous system. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2015.00055CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Namkung, H., Kim, S., & Sawa, A. (2018). The insula: An underestimated brain area in clinical neuroscience, psychiatry, and neurology. Trends in Neurosciences, 41(8), 551–554. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2018.05.004CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neria, Y., Nandi, A., & Galea, S. (2007). Post-traumatic stress disorder following disasters: A systematic review. Psychological Medicine, 38(4), 467–480. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291707001353CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nooner, K. B., Mennes, M., Brown, S., Castellanos, F. X., Leventhal, B., Milham, M. P., & Colcombe, S. J. (2013). Relationship of trauma symptoms to amygdala-based functional brain changes in adolescents. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26(6), 784–787. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.21873CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perino, M. T., Yu, Q., Myers, M. J., Harper, J. C., Baumel, W. T., Petersen, S. E., … Sylvester, C. M. (2021). Attention alterations in pediatric anxiety: Evidence from behavior and neuroimaging. Biological Psychiatry, 89(7), 726–734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.07.016CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peris, T. S., & Galván, A. (2021). Brain and behavior correlates of risk taking in pediatric anxiety disorders. Biological Psychiatry, 89(7), 707–715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.11.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schneiderman, N., Ironson, G., & Siegel, S. D. (2005). Stress and health: Psychological, behavioral, and biological determinants. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1(1), 607–628. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144141CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spittlehouse, J. K., Joyce, P. R., Vierck, E., Schluter, P. J., & Pearson, J. F. (2014). Ongoing adverse mental health impact of the earthquake sequence in Christchurch, New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 48(8), 756–763. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867414527522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stanley, S. K., Hogg, T. L., Leviston, Z., & Walker, I. S. (2021). From anger to action: Differential impacts of eco-anxiety, eco-depression, and eco-anger on climate action and wellbeing. Journal of Climate Change and Health, 1, 100003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2021.100003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, A. E. (2021). Psychometric properties of the climate change worry scale. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 494. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18020494CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sullivan, R. M., & Opendak, M. (2021). Neurobiology of infant fear and anxiety: Impacts of delayed amygdala development and attachment figure quality. Biological Psychiatry, 89(7), 641–650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.08.020CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Venhoeven, L. A., Bolderdijk, J. W., & Steg, L. (2013). Explaining the paradox: How pro-environmental behaviour can both thwart and foster well-being. Sustainability, 5(4), 1372–1386. https://doi.org/10.3390/su5041372CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verplanken, B., & Roy, D. (2013). “My worries are rational, climate change is not”: Habitual ecological worrying is an adaptive response. PLoS One, 8(9), e74708. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074708.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, J., Obradovich, N., & Zheng, S. (2020). A 43-million-person investigation into weather and expressed sentiment in a changing climate. One Earth, 2(6), 568–577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.05.016CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, N., Amann, M., Arnell, N. W., Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Beagley, J., Belesova, K., … Costello, A. J. (2021). The 2020 report of The Lancet countdown on health and climate change: Responding to converging crises. The Lancet, 397(10269), 129–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)32290-xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weintrobe, S. (2021). Psychological roots of the climate crisis: Neoliberal exceptionalism and the culture of uncare. Bloomsbury Academic.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, J. Z., Snell, G., & Samji, H. (2020). Climate anxiety in young people: A call to action. The Lancet Planetary Health, 4(10), E435–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30223-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yook, K., Kim, K. H., Suh, S. Y., & Lee, K. (2010). Intolerance of uncertainty, worry, and rumination in major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24(6), 623–628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.04.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×