April 20, 2022 – When Rachel Lendner, a 52-year-old health educator based in Teaneck, NJ, heard that February was the warmest month in history, her heart skipped a beat.
“I have a physical anxiety reaction when I hear about climate change,” she says, in part because she is a parent. “What do we do with this planet?”
A new survey by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) finds that Lendner is not the only one worried. The nationally representative survey conducted between March 19 and 21 this year shows that 51% of the 2,210 Americans surveyed are concerned about climate change and its impact on future generations.
“When you read about an Antarctic-sized Manhattan-sized ice shelf, it’s a very tangible and dramatic representation of the impact of climate change,” APA President Vivian Pender, MD, said in a news release. “But there are so many unseen effects on mental health, whether it’s anxiety about the future of our children and grandchildren or the trauma of those who are physically displaced by wildfires or violent storms.”