To the 'Today' of 'Tomorrow' - an introduction to EcoAnxiety in Children

Last week, we went through some of the brightest young minds who are working towards climate action. Knowingly or unknowingly, their care and concern, has made them the changemakers they are.

Our leaders of tomorrow, come from today.?

But in the age we live in - what all comprises ‘today’?

Let’s put it in a global timeframe.

As I write this, it is 11pm in Mumbai, 12 noon in Philadelphia, 5:30 pm in Edinburgh, 2 am in Tokyo and 6pm in Greenland. From the onset of this day, I have heard unnecessary crackers bursting in my surroundings, one shooting case from Texas, read a news article on how someone can rent a family in Japan and googled the temperature in Greenland and thought about ‘a day in their life’.?

My point being, that everything that seems apparent can be actual, and everything that feels actual, at times, can be apparent.

Disparity exists in economics as well as reality but while all of us share the same earth, the same resources, the same seasonal patterns (at different times), and the same equator and axis - every single one of us leads such a different life. While it depends on culture, upbringing, life-in-general and all perspectives - so much comes from factors we do not understand.

When I was 6 years old, 16 seemed MASSIVE. When I turned 16, the age of 20 seemed to be magnanimous. When I turned 20, it seemed huge; but as I am almost 25 now, I feel so tiny at times. A newbie at everything, not being intimidated but looking ahead in most cases.

Until a certain age, our thoughts and perceptions are still malleable, but after a point of time, notions seem to be even set in stone at times. Rigidity creeps in.

The impressionable age is unpredictable, but a child can be moulded into a conscious adult in a safe and secure environment. While we live in an extremely volatile world, climate change as a factor of anxiety and worsened mental health is the last thing anyone needs.

In August 2021, the United Nations Children’s Fund reported that half the world’s 2.2 billion children are at “extremely high risk” from the impacts of climate change. More than 230 health-care journals have since published a joint editorial calling for urgent action to address the “catastrophic harm to health” from climate change. Despite these warnings, surprisingly little has been written about the mental health consequences of climate change for children.

Research has shown how climate change is already affecting the healthy psychological development of children worldwide. These impacts begin before birth and stretch across development, and will accelerate as climate change advances.?

From microplastics found in lactating mothers, to young ones being increasingly susceptible to increased infections, the umbrella now needs to cover anything and everything.

Childhood is a period of extremely high developmental vulnerability. Even before birth, acute environmental disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, floods and heat waves are capable of traumatising the mother physically and mentally. These experiences can harm the developing foetus and increase disease vulnerability for the unborn child throughout life.

Sub-acute stressors like summer heat waves are linked to increased risk of obstetric complications and preterm birth, which are well-established risk factors for several major psychiatric disorders.

From birth to age five, children are highly vulnerable to infectious disease, environmental toxins, heat exposure and dehydration. Physical health problems can delay reaching developmental milestones in areas such as cognition and language, and these interact with and increase mental health vulnerability.

In the age of 6 to 12, children remain vulnerable to acute and chronic environmental stressors, and become more able to understand climate change and its anticipated impacts. This heightens their capacity to experience stress and anxiety about the consequences of living on a warming planet.

A joint report on ‘Mental Health and our Changing Climate: Impacts, Inequities, Responses’ , by the American Psychological Association, Climate for Health and EcoAmerica, assessed the interlinkage between climate change and inequity, how because of drastic effects of climate change, climate refugees or only increasing in the world - with a very large population of these refugees being children - who are too young, but also not that young to not understand.

Linking climate change to also public health and mental, physical and community well-being auto granular level - this report takes us through. How can we still build resilience through drastic mental, physical and economical impact of climate-induced obstacles.

Right from processing food to menstrual health, things are dependent on the climate and our natural surroundings, more than we realise. With every part of our life having some sort of a footprint, the population across geographies is stuck between not caring at all versus caring too much. But the ones who become sandwiched in more than one, are children. From their immunity, to their academic or co-curricular performance, to future decisions regarding job scenarios and financial uncertainties - so much is under scrutiny.?

In such situations, where the problem is much deeper than we can actually imagine - to educate and to sensitise, is the only solution.

To not take into consideration concerns of our future generations, is fundamentally against the principle of sustainability. Depending on who we are, we choose to mould our future - or let them be, all in the right proportions.