Collective dissociation is preventing people from taking effective action to tackle the overwhelming climate emergency, finds research published in Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health.

The overwhelming scale and complexity of the climate emergency often leave individuals feeling powerless, leading to a sense of futility in their ability to effect meaningful change. Collective dissociation is a form of trauma processing, and it threatens the cooperation needed to address the climate emergency. Instead, it reinforces isolation and prevents objective assessment of a destructive reality.

Climate-related disasters consequently have profound and lasting effects on mental health, leading to trauma responses and dissociation as subconscious coping mechanisms. It is therefore essential to understand these coping mechanisms, to drive impactful climate action.

The need for empathetic climate activism

Recognizing how the climate emergency impacts people emotionally and psychologically can help policymakers and individuals to develop more effective climate responses.

Empathetic climate activism and a focus on safeguarding planetary and population health help in combating inaction and denial. This new research highlights the need to shift towards proactive climate activism with lasting implications for health systems and policies.

Vulnerable communities are also disproportionately affected by the climate emergency, especially in terms of food security. Extreme weather events, exacerbated by global warming, can trigger a wide range of psychopathological responses, including mood disturbances, anxiety, and physical symptoms—and those impacted most by climate change, such as people displaced by environmental factors, are at increased risk. These events also contribute to lasting mental health issues such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), increased suicide rates, and substance abuse.

Researcher Don-Eliseo Lucero-Prisno, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Department of Global Health and Development, the University of the Philippines Open University Faculty of Management and Development Studies, and the Mahidol University Faculty of Public Health, said, “Local moral support is vital for fostering sustainable adaptation strategies and community resilience to climate change, such as by organizing vulnerability assessments and developing tailored action plans. These plans should include measures for improving infrastructure, enhancing social cohesion, and providing mental health support, reducing vulnerability to climate-related stresses.

“Emphasizing community engagement reduces despair, providing essential solidarity for coping with climate trauma. Local leadership should support community-based climate action by providing resources and frameworks, facilitating engagement, and ensuring mental health support is accessible.”

Lead researcher Deborah Shomuyiwa, of the University of Lagos Faculty of Pharmacy and Global Health Focus Africa, said, “To make meaningful progress, we need to move beyond rhetorical calls for citizen action and directly confront the systemic forces that perpetuate the climate emergency.

“Corporate resistance, government paralysis, and prioritizing profits over environmental sustainability all drive community inaction. The financial sector‘s continued investment in coal and oil, alongside unchecked consumerism, greenwashing, and the war economy, accelerate the climate emergency. Citizens see these decisions by those in power and are alienated by these, which can foster feelings of helplessness and dissociation from the emergency.”

She and co-author Lucero-Prisno argue that policy development must therefore prioritize accountability for corporations and governments, recognizing that citizen-driven sustainability initiatives alone will not suffice in the face of larger organizations’ destructive practices.

How to combat dissociation

In response to these findings, researchers have developed four key recommendations for how to combat dissociation.

1. Policymakers must strive for greater transparency and accountability in political funding to align actions with public support for effective climate measures.
2. Policymakers should prioritize sustainable practices, accountability, monitoring progress rigorously, and remaining adaptable to research and technological advancements.
3. Policies should emphasize education and public awareness campaigns about the mental health consequences of climate change. By fostering a deeper understanding of climate trauma, these campaigns can mobilize public support for climate action and promote collective resilience.
4. Policies should prioritize the needs of vulnerable populations and aim to build inclusive, resilient communities.

Beyond its tangible environmental effects, this research shows that climate change poses significant mental health challenges both in the immediate and longer term. Taking steps to combat human dissociation from the climate emergency—on both large and small scales—is therefore essential to preventing human nature from remaining entrenched in harmful environmental practices, undermining planetary health even when climate action is vital.