Social and environmental factors

Position statement: Climate change and youth mental health

Orygen joins the World Health Organization and many others in the global scientific and healthcare community in recognising the climate crisis and  the threat it poses to public health in the 21st century. Orygen also acknowledges the impact of climate change on young people and, in particular, their mental health and wellbeing.

As climate-related disasters continue to occur, and the threat deepens, in future we will be able to measure time trends and mental health impacts of climate anxiety. However, right now young people are telling us that this is having a negative effect on their mental health and wellbeing. We need to recognise and respond to their experiences while we simultaneously undertake systematic data collection and research to truly understand the scale and impact of this problem.