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How common is severe climate change anxiety in Canada? Study offers a glimpse

Researchers at the University of Alberta and Acadia University reported that about 2.3 per cent of people in Canada experience severe climate anxiety, based on a survey of 2,476 individuals published in Nature Mental Health.
Among groups surveyed, severe anxiety was more common in people who directly experienced climate change impacts, women, younger generations, people in urban centres, those with lower incomes and Indigenous people, whose prevalence neared 10 per cent.
Respondents answered questions from a widely used climate anxiety scale about how often climate thoughts disrupt sleep, concentration and daily life, with symptoms classed as clinically meaningful if disruption occurred at least sometimes.
The Public Health Agency of Canada found mental-health impacts of climate change may be underestimated, while a second peer-reviewed study showed 13 per cent of Canadian teens said it affects their mental health.
Comparisons across countries show the authors said climate anxiety appears less common in Canada than elsewhere, while researchers flagged that the cut point on the climate anxiety scale may be too high, per Australian research.

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