Climate change, extreme weather events hurting mental health of Oregon's youth, report says

Increasing extreme weather events and increased awareness of the negative impacts of climate change are leading to feelings of hopelessness, despair, anxiety and frustration among the state’s young people, a new report from the Oregon Health Authority says.

The report, “Climate Change and Youth Mental Health in Oregon,” also found that youth feel dismissed by adults, and are angry that not enough is being done to protect their future.

OHA prepared the report as part of Gov. Kate Brown’s March 2020 executive order directing multiple state agencies to take actions to reduce and regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

“Adults don’t always understand the fear that young people have about our futures,” Ukiah Halloran-Steiner, a 17-year-old who lives near McMinnville, told the Statesman Journal. “I know the climate crisis is scary and is impacting my own mental health and how I perceive the world.”

Halloran-Steiner was kayaking on the Rogue River with her family when smoke from the 2020 Labor Day fires started rolling in.

“It was hard to breathe. There were bats flying in the middle of the day. We didn’t know what was going on,” she said.

The family raced home to protect their farm and animals.

“That was a really scary experience for me,” she said. “I realized this climate change thing is not that far away. It’s happening now.”

The study includes a literature review, information from youth focus groups and story circles, and interviews with experts.

“As climate effects get worse, youth are becoming very worried about their future and the future of their younger siblings,” said the report’s lead author, Julie Early Sifuentes, who works with OHA’s Climate and Health Program.

Saraya Lumbreras, now 17, was working at Rogue Valley Manor as the 2020 Almeda Fire approached Medford.

“We ended up having to evacuate everyone because it was coming toward us,” Lumbreras said. “A lot of the folks were older and didn’t understand what was happening, didn’t want to leave. I ended up helping until I had to leave myself, because my family was leaving.”

Her house was spared, but most of her classmates lost their homes. Now, she said, she dreads fire season.

“It’s always been smoky here in the summers. The smell of it is really scary now. The night before the fire, the wind was howling. The wind always startles me now,” she said.

More:For young Oregon climate activists, the solutions start in their own backyards

Youth activists in Eugene, on their own and with adults, have organized around fears their futures are in jeopardy.

"At first, and I definitely had these moments, you think about the catastrophe that we're in on such a large scale — because it is such a large scale — and you get overwhelmed," Sahara Valentine, a 17-year-old environmental activist told The Register-Guard in March. "How I deal with this is by doing my part in those moments. I have to break it down and think about what is possible and what changes can I make."

Youth in Eugene have walked out of classes to call attention to environmental issues, following the example of Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg's climate strikes. Local students have formed their own organizations, such as the 4J Climate Justice Team, or joined in the activism and politics of other youth-led groups, such as Sunrise Eugene.

Many see the environmental crisis as an existential one their generation will be uniquely challenged to face. Their activism frequently reaches beyond the environment, linking climate change and other issues they see as injustice.

"Because things are so dire, because this is such an intense crisis, people are feeling as if they have to act dramatically," Avery Temple, an organizer with the Eugene advocacy nonprofit Breach Collective, told The Register-Guard in April 2021. "And it's true. We do."

More:Young climate activists examine race, wealth and immediacy while finding their voice in the movement

The OHA study also found that youths recognize that vulnerability to climate change is closely linked with systemic racism and structural oppression, and that both need to be simultaneously addressed, its authors said.

Its authors recommend that educators, environment and mental health professionals and decision makers:

• Share power with youth in decision-making about climate and mental health policy and solutions to increase youths’ sense of hope, belonging and agency.

• Educate themselves about the connection between climate change and youth mental health.

• Increase investments in school and community mental health services.

For Halloran-Steiner, the 2020 wildfires were a life-changing event. She became involved with Sunrise PDX, a Portland group of young people working to stop climate change, and then founded Sunrise Rural Oregon.

“I have this sense of responsibility that I need to do what I can to protect the planet and future generations,” she said.

Halloran-Steiner said she doesn’t think the study results are surprising, but hopes it will help people think harder about the decisions they make.

“This report isn’t going to do anything unless the people who read it, and people in positions of power, take action,” she said.

Adam Duvernay contributed to this report.

Tracy Loew is a reporter at the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at tloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6779 or on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Climate change hurting mental health of Oregon's youth