As climate change accelerates, so does the mental distress it causes. In this episode, we interview Dr. Elizabeth Marks and Dr. Kris De Meyer to explore the critical intersection between mental health and climate change.

We discuss eco-anxiety - the difficult emotions caused by direct or indirect exposure to climate change - and consider to what extent such emotions should be considered a clinical disorder. We also explore the unequal burden of climate change across populations and how fear-based climate messaging can be unhelpful. The episode goes on to suggest strategies for addressing both climate change and mental health, such as the benefits of 'action-based storytelling’ and the potential of individual agency and collective action to confront these challenges in an uncertain and changing world. 

00:00 Introduction 

02:00 What is eco-anxiety? 

04:54 Inequalities in impact of climate change 

07:25 Media messaging around climate change 

12:04 What can we do in response to climate change? 

19:42 Conclusion

Dr. Elizabeth Marks

Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of Bath 

Deputy Director, Bath Centre for Mindfulness and Community 

https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/persons/elizabeth-marks

Dr. Kris De Meyer 

Research Fellow, King’s College London Department of Neuroimaging 

Visiting Lecturer, King’s College London, Department of Geography

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/kris-de-meyer

Director, University College London Climate Action Unit 

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/climate-action-unit/how-we-work

Production credits

This podcast was produced by a group of PhD students from UCL. Huge thanks from the Mental Elf to the podcast team (in alphabetical order):

Alex Martin, PhD student, University College London 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexmartin111/

Annabelle Olsson, PhD student, University College London 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/annabelle-eveline-olsson-806b2214a/

Jasmine Lee (Presenter), PhD student, University College London 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmineleecy/

Jehanita Jesuthasan, PhD student, University College London

https://linkedin.com/in/jehanita-jesuthasan-0321851a3

Oliwia Stecko, PhD student, University College London 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliwia-stecko

Ritika Chokhani, PhD student, University College London

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritika-chokhani

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