Mental health in this part of Africa recently gained substantial relevance a few years ago, but climate change and environmental-related issues still require a lot of sensitization in most parts of Africa. Nigeria, like most African countries, has been very apathetic towards the mental distress people face from climate change, even though research shows that Africans experiencing the significant impact of climate change have not been able to change this apathy. Though climate-aware psychology is beginning to gain more momentum, there is still a lot of awareness, research, digging, and learning that needs to be done.
For the month of March, The Eco-Anxiety Africa Project (TEAP) did the digging and brought us eminent and erudite psychologists and researchers within Africa to discuss: Climate-Aware Psychology in Africa: Moving the Needle Forward. In no order, the speakers were: Dr. Garret Barnwell, a clinical psychologist, community psychologist practitioner, and researcher who focuses his research on climate justice; Dr. Joy Muhia, a medical psychologist and a global mental health professional and Dr. Steven Kator Iorfa, an environmental & social psychologist and researcher.
Kick-starting the conversation, the moderator, Anthony Ojukwu, asked a question that has been on a lot of minds including mine- What does Climate-Aware Psychology mean to our speakers? Dr. Iorfa belled the cat by describing Climate-Aware Psychology in a simple sentence as introducing the principles that guide psychological practice to solve the problems posed by climate change; in other words, adapting psychological theories to mitigate climate change. To reiterate, Dr. Muhia added an important factor which is diversity in climate-aware psychology. According to her, diversity plays a huge role in understanding human’s response to the climate crisis; culture, and perspectives based on geographical locations are all important factors that will affect people’s response to the climate crisis.
We may have called it different names but at the end of the day, it is a result of climate change.
-Dr. Muhia
There is a belief that the psychological impact of climate change has been in existence for a long time, how true is this? The guests unanimously agreed to this with Dr. Muhia adding that the response has always been displayed but handled differently. Does this now change the fact that eco-anxiety is newly emerging? Dr. Iorfa corrects this notion by saying eco-anxiety is newly emerging as a field of study, but it has been in existence for a long time.
In this case, in which we are trying to understand the mental impact of climate change, contributions from mental health practitioners cannot be undermined. “What is their role? How can they get involved in this study?”, asked Anthony. The guests shared resources in which both climate-inclined and non-climate-inclined psychologists can drive action plans and gain more support in Africa through grants, partnerships, and numerous other opportunities.
On moving the needle forward, the speakers all agreed on collaboration as the best way for mental health professionals to drive climate action plans; collaboration with local organizations, environmentalists, communities, and others championing environmental and mental health-related issues is the way forward. Another point mentioned by Dr. Barnwell is having a well-structured socio-political system; Dr. Iorfa and Dr. Muhia both added that raising awareness and advocacy in communities, stakeholders and the people will be a great way to forge ahead, amongst others.
Climate Aware Resources:
Global Climate and Health Alliance
European Community Psychology Association
Policy Brief on Climate Change by WHO
Listen to the conversation here.