Mental Health and Climate Change?

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) note that climate change is a growing threat to mental health in the US (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/20/climate-emergency-anxiety-threapists). The APA also record that many of its health professionals feel ill-equipped to handle the growing number of people who are 'anxious and grieving over the state of the planet'. Although the professionals are broadly aware of the issues, most feel they lack detailed knowledge to counter the anxieties of their patients. The solution is clearly not to pretend the threat is unreal or that solutions are easy. None of this, however, is really new. If we go far enough back in time, the world would have appeared to be a difficult place for the vast majority of its inhabitants. Since the end of the cold war, however, people in the US and western Europe, have perhaps became used to the idea that life will improve and the world become progressively safer. Climate change has destroyed that sense of optimism for many. But every generation has its challenges (disease, war, starvation, predators etc). We must hope that the current generation will deal with this one. Depression is understandable but not a solution.