What if the state of the world is making me sick? The climate crisis and polarization are also mental health challenges

We are affected by what goes on around us. The socioeconomic context significantly impacts the psychological health of both individuals and the communities they belong to, and we are all, to varying degrees, vulnerable to the major events occurring in our environment. The prevailing narrative usually focuses on the individualization of experiences, with slogans like “if you put your mind to it, you can do it,” “it’s a matter of attitude,” or “you have to be strong.” However, in the face of a year marked by political instability, global conflicts, extreme weather events, and issues such as employment and housing, no amount of “willpower” can offset the collective influence that our context has on us.

A large portion of the world’s population is experiencing rising levels of eco-anxiety — growing distress over the climate crisis — particularly among young people, who are the most socially aware. As psychologist Jean Twenge points out, young people often serve as a spokesperson for collective psychological health and, in turn, play a key role in shaping the overall sentiment of society. In Spain, for example, they are the demographic most impacted by the economic and housing crises, which are creating a climate of uncertainty about the future and making it difficult for them to plan for the medium term. This uncertainty hampers their ability to invest in personal projects and forces them to live day by day.

All these phenomena are raising the temperature of the social pressure cooker, and the resulting fume is becoming ever more apparent. These fumes are further amplified by the toxic combination of social media algorithms, media campaigns strategically designed to misinform, polarize, and create information bubbles, and the lack of skills for consuming content consciously and critically.

The year 2024 has shown a surge in ideological division and a rise in radical positions, which find their most extreme manifestation in wars. At this moment, the world is facing a record 56 active armed conflicts, the highest number since World War II.

This is no coincidence — it is yet another symptom of how society has turned into a volatile pressure cooker: economic insecurity, social inequality, fear of migration, the rapid expansion of rights for certain groups, and the challenges these shifts bring, alongside widespread distrust in institutions and the political system itself.

This social fragmentation has a real negative impact on the psychological well-being of the population, as it makes it easier to dehumanize others, label them, and turn them into adversaries. In doing so, it undermines the sense of community and belonging — emotional needs that everyone seeks to fulfill.

The result? A society plagued by high levels of isolation and loneliness, preventing individuals from developing a secure attachment to both their community and, ultimately, themselves. This constant psychological state of alert can involuntarily activate more primitive mental mechanisms, which manifest in a narrative that has gained ground in Western society and been appropriated by certain political groups: cognitive distortions, generalization, dichotomous thinking, and in-group bias (“immigrants are the problem,” “the LGBTQ+ community will destroy our values,” “feminism is unnecessary,” “there’s only one right way of thinking,” “anything goes nowadays…”). These discourses serve as a societal thermometer, and when we are driven by fear, that fear pushes us further apart.

Individual mental health is inseparably connected to the sociocultural context. If we are experiencing a collective mental health crisis, it is not because our society is intrinsically more vulnerable or weaker. This debate is unproductive. What we need to focus on is how the psychological state of our society is reflecting a deeper reality: we have forgotten the importance of embracing others, of calmly dissenting, of valuing diversity as a strength, and of facing the complex challenges of our plural society with a sense of unity, rather than through restrictive, punitive, or denial-based positions. We have lost sight of the fact that the tensions we observe will not dissipate unless we learn to reduce the temperature of the pressure cooker.

Accepting and confronting change, with all that it entails, both individually and collectively, is difficult. But there is no other way, and we must be united to move forward.

Kike Esnaola is a psychologist and popularizer.

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