“It’s Not Something We Like to Think About Because It’s So Devastating”: Understanding Eastern Canadian Young Women’s Mental Health in Our Changing Climate

Abstract

Women are disproportionately affected by climate change, yet even though mental health and climate change is an emerging field, little research focuses on their mental health. The purpose of this study was to explore young women’s perceptions of climate change, gender, and mental health. A feminist poststructural (FPS) approach guided this research. FPS and discourse analysis were used to explore nine participants’ perceptions of their mental health in relation to the changing climate, and how their experiences were personally, socially, and institutionally constructed. Findings highlight participant relationships to discourses surrounding hopelessness, anxiety, grief and frustration, intersectionality, stereotypes, and gender-based violence (GBV). Study findings supported by broader literature provide recommendations for the discipline of health promotion regarding gender appropriate climate mitigation and adaptation strategies that prioritize and recognize mental health. We urge health promotion to recognize and integrate the fact that climate change amplifies existing inequities into health and climate change policies whenever possible. Climate change and health policies should ensure women are safe and protected before climate driven weather events to prevent instances of GBV. We recommend that health promotion media specialists recognize the dangers and ineffectiveness of fear mongering and attempt to promote climate solutions as opposed to only stories of despair and ecological degradation.