Young people in the region declare the highest concern, depression and concern for climate change.
Affects climate change The well -being of adolescents In the most affected areas Global warmingAccording to a new study in Madagascar. The youth of the country’s rural areas reported Severe anxiety and depression Relating to the fear of climate change.
The authors of the investigation have been published in ‘Journal of Climate Change and Health’ and asked to connect to Support for mental health In Climate adaptation efforts To help young people to face the future of uncertainty.
“Andt Vidunas in South Madagascar, They talk about the famine, fear and future stolen from drought And sand storms. Considering the loss of harvest and the lack of water, many young people are forced to survive their communities, while those who are facing appetite, Difficulties in accessing education Already one Despair“, Co -editor, doctor.
How does climate change affect adolescents?
Threatens climate change It is well documented for the health of children and adolescents. But they The effects of mental health Most of the climate crisis in low and middle income countries.
A study by researchers at Dublin Trinity College, UCL, London’s Queen Mary, Madagascar Catholic University and CPM Global reveals that climate change has serious consequences Health The mood of youth from South Madagascar.
Compiled the study data Studies conducted for 83 adolescents. Describe the hopeless feeling of the future. Participants described that they were helpless and a young man said: “I don’t know what I can do to be happy”, another: “Life is a suffering“.
Climate change is not just an environmental issue
“South Madagascar’s youths are the pioneers of the impact of climate change,” says Dr. Christin Hotfield, the main author of Dublin’s Trinity College. “They can provide important data in the way of change of climate I have an impact on the mental health of adolescents“.
Hotfield says research makes it clear that climate change is not only an environmental problem but also how mental health is. “We found it Chronic climate pressure factors – Not just extreme weather events- they already affect the mental health of adolescents, “he says. Climate concern It usually focuses on future risks, but in Madagascar, young people are already living reality.
Uncertainty about the future gives climate anxiety
The study found that climate change affected the mental health of adolescents through three main roads: loss of household resources, the Uncertainty of the future And change of the methods of dealing with.
Euphoria Especially intense: the 90% of families have gone without food In the last year, and 69% of adolescents spent a day without eating.
Many of those who responded to the survey revealed themselves Agony For the difficulties of their families, and how the most were witness Hungry people from their communities. As a young man said: “Many people have died and many adults have been died of malnutrition.” Another said: “There is no water. When the sunlight burns, we are suffering.”
Researchers ask for to improve mental health in vulnerable countries
Co -operatives of Queen Mary University, London, confirms that Professor Isabel Maramel, underlines the importance of recognizing the need to prepare results Psychological effects of climateNot just the environment.
“We hope that these findings will help basic interventions to improve the results of mental health. Special attention is paid Youths from lower and middle -income countries“.
The study was conducted in the ‘Grand Sud’ region south of Madagascar, which is one of the most affected areas of climate change. In 2021, the area was considered by some people The world’s first famine triggered by climate change.