Mudança climática resultará em mais estresse, ansiedade e Transtornos de estresse pós-traumáticos.

Postado por Lucila Moraes

Um dos grandes impactos do aquecimento global ocorre não só no meio ambiente, como também em nós como seres humanos, como no sentimento de trauma ou perda após uma tragédia, em que os sobreviventes precisam lidar com a perda de familiares, amigos, suas casas, e enfim, sua comunidade como um todo.

A maneira como lidamos com tais experiências em um mudo que enfrenta o aquecimento global é o tema do novo relatório ‘Além de tempestades e secas: Os impactos psicológicos da mudança climática’, realizado pela APA (Associação Americana de Psicologia) e Ecoamerica. Ambas as organizações emitiram o relatório como forma de alertar os impactos das mudanças climáticas no psicológico dos americanos. Isso significa maiores níveis de estresse, ansiedade e transtornos pós-traumáticos no futuro.

 ‘Os efeitos que são mais prováveis de ocorrer não são apenas traumas por presenciar desastres naturais. Nós devemos também esperar aumentos ao longo prazo dos níveis de estresse e ansiedade como resultados dos desastres, bem como o aumento das taxas de violência e crime consequência do aumento das temperaturas e competição por escassez de fontes. ’ Afirmou o Dr. Norman B. Anderson, o CEO da APA em um comunicado à imprensa anunciando o relatório. ’

O relatório ainda presume um futuro com maiores abusos de substâncias, emergências de saúde mental, pessoas sofrendo ‘ solastalgia’ (que é o que as pessoas sentem após serem deslocadas de suas casas depois que ocorre um desastre natural como um furacão, por exemplo), e por fim, perda de autonomia e identidade pessoal.

Porém o relatório não pretende mostrar apenas um futuro obscuro e fadado à melancolia, ele serve como forma de alerta para como a comunidade pode se preparar para evitar tais consequências e mudanças climáticas e prevenir tais acontecimentos, como aumentar a coesão da comunidade, aumentar a saúde e o bem-estar da população e reduzir os riscos.

Fonte: http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/climate-change-broad-psychological-impacts-stress-anxiety-ptsd-20140610

The impacts of climate change on the world are often obvious, like the sight of retreating glaciers in Alaska or the slow creep of rising seas that are washing big portions of southern Louisiana out into the Gulf of Mexico.

But look at it from a different perspective, and it's clear that some of the biggest impacts from Earth's rapidly warming climate occur within us as human beings, like the sense of loss and trauma felt by hurricane survivors after everything they know – their homes, workplaces, churches, really their entire community – is swept out to sea.

How we'll handle experiences like these in a world changed by global warming is the subject of a new report, "Beyond Storms and Droughts: The Psychological Impacts of Climate Change," by the American Psychological Association and ecoAmerica, an environmental advocacy group devoted to climate change and sustainability issues.

Both organizations issued the report as a wake-up call to all Americans, whom they say can expect "broad psychological impacts" on their well-being and health from climate change.

That means a future with heightened levels of stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, as well as a loss of community identity – if nothing is done to stop or slow emissions of industrial-produced greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

"The striking thing is how these effects will permeate so many aspects of our daily lives," said Dr. Norman B. Anderson, CEO of the American Psychological Association, in a press release announcing the report.

"The effects we are likely to see aren't just trauma from experiencing natural disasters," he added. "We can also expect increases in long-term stress and anxiety from the aftermath of disasters, as well as increases in violence and crime rates as a result of higher temperatures or competition for scarce resources."

The report (download it here) paints a picture of a future with more:

Substance abuse: A 2012 study found a spike in cases of substance abuse among Canada's Inuit community, which is gradually losing its hunting and fishing-based livelihood to shorter, milder winters and longer, hotter summers.

Mental health emergencies: Rises in temperature are associated with a rise in the use of mental health services, not only in traditionally warm-weather regions but also in cooler countries like France and Canada. "Higher temperatures seem to provide an additional source of stress that can overwhelm coping ability for people who are already psychologically fragile," the report notes.

People experiencing "solastalgia": It's what people feel when they're suddenly dislocated from their home after a storm or a wildfire, for example. "However, solastalgia has a less sudden or acute beginning due to the slow onset of changes in one’s local environment," the report adds.

Loss of autonomy and personal identity: Climate change will have an impact on many of the daily details about our lives that we take for granted, like seasonal changes and the stability of our roads, bridges and sidewalks, the authors write. "The desire to be able to accomplish basic tasks independently is a core psychological need, central to human well-being ... and may be threatened for people who have difficulty leaving home due to dangerous conditions."

But the report isn't all doom and gloom. As the authors note, they've issued the report as a wake-up call because they believe it isn't too late to prevent the worst from happening. And they even write about what they call "post-traumatic growth," noting that long-term psychological trauma isn't inevitable simply because individuals or communities experience climate-related hardships.

"There are a number of things communities can do to prepare for acute impacts of climate change -- such as hurricanes and wildfires -- as well as the slowly evolving changes like droughts that permanently and profoundly affect communities," ecoAmerica President Bob Perkowitz said in a press release.

"Virtually everything a community does to prepare for or help prevent climate change has co-benefits, like increased community cohesion, increased health and well-being, and risk reduction," he added.