WHO warns of mental impacts of climate change

Climate change can cause anxiety, disrupt sleep and contribute to depression. The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe has released a new report on measures to support mental health.

The authors noted that extreme heat can exacerbate existing mental disorders, and experienced floods and wildfires can lead to anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. At the same time, for a negative impact on the psyche, it is not necessary to personally face a natural disaster: worrying about the future of the planet can also become a source of severe stress.

The report looked at 20 programmes in 15 countries in the WHO European Region. Some of them are dedicated to helping people after extreme weather events, mainly floods, others to support mental health and overcome anxiety due to climate change.

Ledia Lazeri, WHO Regional Mental Health Adviser, noted that anxiety, anger or sadness over climate change alone does not mean mental illness. Support is important when these experiences become excessive, interfere with daily life, or cause feelings of helplessness.

For example, after severe floods in Slovenia in 2023, mobile psychological care teams and hotlines operated. In another project, led by the Estonian Green Movement, with the participation of partners from three European countries, they developed materials for self-help and training specialists, as well as seminars for young people.

To illustrate the scale of climate anxiety, WHO cited a separate 2021 study published in The Lancet Planetary Health. It was attended by 10 thousand people aged 16-25 years from ten countries. Some 59 percent of those surveyed said they were very or extremely concerned about climate change, and more than 45 percent reported that the experiences associated with it had a negative impact on daily life.

The WHO has previously warned of other health effects of extreme temperatures. The organization’s regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, reported more than 200,000 deaths from heat in the European Region between 2022 and 2025. He said heat-related deaths have risen by 30 percent over two decades, with most cases preventable.

The head of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in June 2026 called Europe the fastest warming continent: the temperature here is growing twice as fast as the global average. He noted that once-in-a-generation heatwaves are now observed almost annually, and European homes, schools and workplaces are not designed for such temperatures.