Mental health and climate change: a view from Armenia and Portugal

By Eleonora Zomer, Italian Red Cross (volunteer) and Paulo Lima

A version of this article appeared first on the website of the Youth Press Agency, a global online platform for young people, with correspondents in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Italy and Portugal. The interviewees are IFRC Climate Champions Ani Gerorgyan, a volunteer with the Armenian Red Cross and a member of the European and Central Asian Youth Network (ECAYN), and Marta Neves, who is International Operations and Project Manager of the Portuguese Red Cross.

We asked Ani and Marta to explain how the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement safeguards the mental health of people affected by the climate crisis.

Ani explains that the Armenian Red Cross has an active psychosocial support department (photo) and a climate group involved in advocacy activities. The approach of this group is “not only to solve the issue but trying to feel it”.

The group has grown over time, managing to go beyond the Red Cross environment to awareness-raising activities in schools and universities.

Regarding her activity within the ECAYN, she stresses that climate change and mental health are among the key priorities for the network, where they share best practices among National Societies.

Marta starts by emphasising that, when it comes to climate change and mental health, National Societies have different stages of implementation and organization.

Advanced guidelines

In the case of Portugal, there have been many bottom-up necessities, mainly from local branches that feel the need to connect mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS Hub) with climate change.

Portugal has faced different extreme climate events in the last years, during which the Red Cross has deployed psychologists to support the affected population. However, psychologists trained in post-disaster relief are lacking.

Other National Societies have more advanced guidelines on climate change and mental health, such as Norway, which makes it easier to connect the two topics. This is why it is important to share best practices and learn from each other.

Both the IFRC and the ECAYN have developed comprehensive tools on different issues related to climate change and MHPSS that are easily replicable in other environments.

Why MHPSS is not a priority in the climate crisis; why more research is needed; and what are the challenges of being able to deliver actions and strategies to tackle climate change and mental health.

‘Survival mode’

For Ani, the challenge is to connect climate change and mental health smoothly and how to communicate this to the community. Marta mentions four challenges that the Portuguese Red Cross is currently facing that are common to other realities:

Affordability. It is very hard to afford a psychologist, which has become more a privilege for some people instead of a right everyone should have.

Prioritization. People are not looking at the climate crisis as impacting their mental health, but they are facing the crisis in “survival mode”. This means protection from heatwaves, not losing houses during wildfires, not losing crops during floods.

Generational difference. Younger people are generally more exposed to mental health topics and tend to be more aware about the impacts of climate change; for instance what ”eco-anxiety” is. The same cannot be said for elderly people, who are less familiar with these issues and expressions.

Government strategies. Only when the governments take adequate consideration of climate change and MHPSS in their plans and strategies will this reach the local level.

The main strategy agreed by both speakers is connecting the two topics, so that whenever there is a session on climate, the mental health dimension should be included and vice versa.

For Marta, the key steps to take include structural change, a holistic approach to mental health in the climate crisis which does not leave anyone behind; Ani emphasises the need to interconnect climate change and mental health, to do more advocacy, also effectively summarised in the motto “speak up, you are not alone”.

Ana and Marta are also active members of the Regional Road Map to Climate Action of Europe and Central Asia, which aims to increase domestic climate action, advocacy, peer learning and partnerships.

Nine-year old Mariyana is spends time with the Smiley Club of the Armenian Red Cross, which has an active psychosocial department experienced in conflict- and displacement-related support (pictured). It’s one of 28 child-friendly spaces across Armenia run by the Red Cross. Some National Societies now have advanced guidelines on climate change and mental health, such as Norway. (File photo: Armenian Red Cross via IFRC)