Anxiety Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Addressing Climate Anxiety Ahead Of Earth Day

Ahead of Earth Day Monday, Chris Schulz spoke with Amy Parsons-White, sustainability manager for Marshall University, to discuss this mental health issue and potential solutions.

In recent years, uncertainty about the future amidst a changing climate has given rise to a phenomenon known as “climate anxiety.”

Ahead of Earth Day Monday, Chris Schulz spoke with Amy Parsons-White, sustainability manager for Marshall University, to discuss this mental health issue and potential solutions.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Schulz: What does the sustainability manager do at a university?

Parsons-White: Well, we have our hands on a lot of different things. The main goal of all of our projects is to look at people, planet and profit, because that’s what sustainability is. We develop programs that incorporate social equity with reducing our carbon footprint and reducing waste, with being able to save the university money, and/or make money, one or the other, whichever one or both. Our programs have to do all three.

Schulz: Can you quickly give me an example or two of some of those programs?

Parsons-White: One of our biggest programs to date is our composting facility. We recently began the first commercial compost facility in the state. That is really a perfect example of sustainability, we’re taking all of our food waste, most of our cardboard and paper to the facility and composting it. We’re reducing our carbon footprint by not sending these things off to the landfill to produce methane. We’re also saving the university money in waste haul from not sending all of this waste. While we’re there, we’re able to work with the public, do workshops, educate on how they too can compost in their backyard or become involved with us. And then we sell it to make a profit, so it really fits every point of sustainability.

Schulz: In your own words, can you explain what climate anxiety is?

Parsons-White: Climate anxiety just refers to the distressing feelings that some people have related to the impacts of climate change. A lot of that comes because there is a feeling of uncertainty, or a lack of control over your well being and your safety in regards to climate change.

Schulz: How are you seeing that manifest on Marshall’s campus and in the student body?

Parsons-White: We’re seeing that a lot now on campus. We work with the Counseling Center a good bit and know that counseling services on campus have increased. A lot of students are feeling hopeless, like they just don’t know what to do. That’s why we try to educate, to let them know that there are solutions, it isn’t over. There are some really great solutions that we can all do.

Schulz: How can students get involved, both on campus and also more broadly in West Virginia?

Parsons-White: Actions that they can take to help reduce their climate anxiety is, number one, focus on what you can control. We can all do little things to control the impacts of climate change. Whether that’s participating in climate change initiatives, even calling your legislators, building sustainable habits yourself and educating those around you either in energy use, composting, recycling, consumerism, change the way you commute to campus. There are all kinds of things that you can do in your daily life to help make you feel a little more in control.

I would say the most important of any of those would be to participate in climate change initiatives. This doesn’t mean bombarding yourself and digesting climate change media constantly, because we can’t do that and be mentally healthy either. But getting involved in a group, like the Citizens Climate Lobby, who make great strides in changing policy, and advocating for climate change relief, could be a wonderful way to reduce your anxiety because you can see progress being made, if that makes sense. Going to one climate rally usually increases people’s anxiety, but if you hang in there and get involved with an organization, then you can see that there is progress being made, and that can alleviate your anxiety.

Schulz: Does that speak to the concern that some people have, that focusing on individual issues doesn’t address the fact that this is a systemic problem that’s much larger than any one person?

Parsons-White: Doing individual things can make us feel better, but yes, getting involved in an organization, first of all, can help you to not feel so alone in this. I think that’s a big issue too. People feel like they’re alone and they’re fighting this battle all by themselves. You’re not alone. Join an organization, do real systemic change, policy and advocacy. And that is really the best way to get to the source, with the policy, to reduce your climate anxiety.

Schulz: Do you feel that the conversation is slightly different in a fossil fuel state like West Virginia?

Parsons-White: During legislative session, when we’re seeing bills that are being passed, it can feel a little heavy sometimes, because there is a push for coal and oil and gas. What we need to remember is that there’s also a huge push, there are a lot of people out there working to reduce these things and to expand alternative fuel infrastructure throughout the state.

I can see, living in this area of the United States, how that could add to your anxiety with climate change, that maybe you may feel hopeless. That is why it would be great to join an organization so that you can see that you aren’t alone. There are a lot of people doing a lot of good work in this state.

Schulz: Is there a greater potential, perhaps in a state like West Virginia?

Parsons-White: There is work to be done. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, we can get in and we can see changes happen quickly. That’s actually a very positive thing because it can reduce your anxiety when you get in and you work with these groups and start seeing a lot of change happen quickly.

Schulz: How have things changed over your career? Is this anxiety, is this worry something new? Has it always been there, and is it just more widespread now?

Parsons-White: I think that it’s always been there. I think if you look at conversations around mental health, you’ve seen mental health professionals talk about how there has been a decline in mental health, more anxiety, more depression, amongst young people in particular. But no one could really put their finger on it. I think we’re seeing now that it is because young people have a lot more on their plates than I even had at their age back in the 90s.

I think a lot of it comes from, they get bombarded on social media. We’re always seeing the effects. And I’m not saying that you shouldn’t look it up, keep current on the events and what’s happening, yes. But also, you need to take a break sometimes. Go do other things, take a walk. Just get away from that. I think that that actually leads to a lot of the climate anxiety that we’re seeing today just because it’s everywhere we look, and it’s always accessible.

Schulz: Do you see a change in the students that you work with on campus when they do engage with your office with your initiatives? Is it having the intended positive result for them?

Parsons-White: I think that it is for those who become involved and stay involved, because they are able to see the changes that we’re making. That’s really what it comes down to when students become involved. As I said before, going to one or two rallies or being involved in one isolated program, a lot of times that can make you feel worse in the long run because you’re only seeing the problem and you don’t stick around to see the solution.

I get it, because a lot of students don’t want to come back because it’s heavy. We’ve also shifted how we talk about things, we’re more solution oriented. We all know what the problems are, we see it all around us every day. But there are solutions. Getting away from problem-oriented programming to solution-oriented programming I think has made a very big difference in how our students react, how they respond to that, but also how they choose to stay coming back to the sustainability department and engaging in our programs, because it is more uplifting.

Schulz: Is there anything else about this particular issue, the intersection of mental health and sustainability, that I haven’t given you an opportunity to discuss with me? Or is there something that you like to highlight?

Parsons-White: I would like to highlight: become involved, stay current, but don’t overload yourself. It’s always okay to take a day off. We all need that for our mental health. Also, I would like to point out that I think a lot of the anxiety comes from, especially in this region, we don’t have a lot of options when it comes to recycling or going single-use plastic free. Practice compassion, not just with other people when you see them doing things that you might not agree with, but also with yourself. If you forget your grocery bags and have to use the plastic ones from the grocery store, it’ll be okay. You can reuse those. I like to tell students to, to also be aware and use kind of affirmations. It’s okay to feel stressed out about climate change. You don’t have to beat yourself up over that. Also, you can make a difference. Big changes take time. Just because you’ve called your Senator once on this day doesn’t mean that it’s not going to have an effect a year down the road.

Also, it’s okay to take a break, I’m going back to that one. I think that the overload, the guilt that comes with taking a break in our society is very real. When it comes to something as heavy as climate change, especially those of us who care, can really beat ourselves up. So you can’t be there to advocate for policy change in the future, if you’re not taking care of your mental well being now. So just be kind to yourself.

W.Va. Experiencing Mental Illness At Rates Higher Than The National Average

West Virginians are experiencing mental illness at rates higher than the national average, and it’s even worse in southern West Virginia.

According to multiple studies, Boone and Logan counties have the highest rates of depression in the nation.

Data from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention show that in 2020 more than 18 percent of U.S. adults reported having ever been diagnosed with depression. In that same period, 27.5 percent of West Virginians reported being diagnosed with depression, the highest in the nation.

The CDC analyzed 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to estimate the national, state-level, and county-level prevalence of U.S. adults aged older than 18 years self-reporting a lifetime diagnosis of depression.

In the report, the CDC found that most of the states with the highest prevalence of depression were in the Appalachian and Mississippi Valley regions.

Jessica Bradley is a psychologist at Marshall Health. She said the rates of depression revealed in the June 2023 CDC report were concerning to her as a mental health provider and a citizen.

“The data showed that an estimated 32 percent of adults in Logan County have been diagnosed with depression, which is the highest in the nation,” Bradley said. “And that number for West Virginia was 27.5 percent. But that’s opposed to, I believe,18 percent of adults nationwide. So clearly, we are at a much higher rate. That’s concerning as a provider. It’s also concerning as a citizen because these are, these are our family members. These are my friends. These are people that I care about. And it’s not just numbers, these are humans with stories.”

While the CDC report revealed Logan County as the most depressed county in West Virginia, and the nation, Christina Mullins, commissioner for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources’ Bureau for Behavioral Health, said the CDC’s data was compiled from 2014 to 2020 and cited the newly released West Virginia MATCH Survey as the research her department relies on.

“So what I think is happening, what I think has happened to some degree, is that we’ve all gotten a little worse through the pandemic and but I don’t know that Logan County has gotten as worse as some, as bad, you know, has worsened as much as other areas, because my data is right now is not supporting what’s shown in and that data is valid for the time period that it was collected,” Mullins said.

MATCH is a biennial survey – meaning data is collected every two years. One out of 14 adult West Virginians are randomly chosen to participate using a large database of West Virginia residential addresses. The first survey period was August 2021 to February 2022.

“The data indicators are not exactly the same,” Mullins said. “But I had Logan County as 12th, actually in the state for depression, anxiety or PTSD, PTSD in the last 12 months, at 27 percent. And the state average being 24.3. So they weren’t, they weren’t the worst when I was really looking at the stats.”

According to the West Virginia Match Survey, 27.4 percent of Logan County residents said they had experienced depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder in the past 12 months.

The highest rate, according to the West Virginia MATCH Survey, was in Boone County, just over the county line, with 32 percent of residents reporting experiencing depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder in the past 12 months.

Researchers for the CDC found that rates of depression in West Virginia might reflect the influence of social determinants of health or patterns of other chronic diseases.

“Social determinants are a really broad concept,” Bradley said. “And they start out as anything from food insecurity to parental involvement. Whenever you’re a kid, to job security, and family stressors. on a community level, it looks like the economy and what’s going on the world around you. And that can be extended to just nationwide. So, if you take all of that into consideration, everything is playing apart, and where you are, how you’re feeling about things.”

Boone and Logan counties were coal-producing powerhouses until the nation moved away from coal-powered electricity and the mines began to close.

“One of the symptoms of depression is hopelessness,” Bradley said. “And it’s so much easier to feel hopeless about things, whenever the voices that you hear are telling you that there’s no hope.”

In response to these challenges, Logan County residents are banding together for better health.

The Coalfield Health Center in Chapmanville is part of a group that hopes to address southern West Virginia’s health outcomes. Next to the clinic, Wild, Wonderful and Healthy Logan County (WWHLC) is developing a public greenspace for all Logan County residents.

“We have relationships across our state to try to meet the need in these rural populations because it’s so difficult for it’s so difficult for people to get access to quality services are really just to get access to services period, in the rural settings they have to travel or maybe they don’t have the finances to be able to travel to the big city,” Bradley said. “That’s one of the things that’s so difficult so telehealth has really helped improve that access. And then also people are just willing to do the work to get to these places. And I think that’s a really wonderful thing.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

**Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Jessica Bradley is a physiatrist. She is a psychologist.

W.Va. Higher Ed Counselors Asking For Help In Mental Health Crisis

West Virginia college counselors are overwhelmed and asking for support from the state legislature. “The counseling center staff are weary, there's no question about it,” Dr. Hawkins said. “Because we’re operating as if we are in a psychiatric emergency room.”

West Virginia college counselors are overwhelmed and asking for support from the state legislature.

Dr. T. Anne Hawkins, director of the West Virginia University (WVU) Carruth Counseling Center, gave a presentation Sunday on mental health in higher education to the Joint Standing Committee on Education.

“College counseling centers, around the state and around the country, are one of the most popular places on the campus,” Hawkins told lawmakers. “And they have been for the last 10 years. We increasingly are seeing more and more students.”

From 2010 to 2020, Hawkins said there was a “dramatic increase” in depression and anxiety amongst West Virginia college students. She noted, however, there was a decline in substance use during that time.

Hawkins said since the start of the pandemic, WVU’s crisis intervention went up by 36 percent. WVU, on average, provides almost 500 counseling sessions a week to students.

“This year, we will have served about 10.7 percent of the student population,” Hawkins said. “This is pretty tremendous. Thirty percent of our clients, our students, report self injury, 31 percent report suicidal thoughts, and 13 percent report a previous suicide attempt. Think about that – 13 percent.”

Hawkins told lawmakers she is “very concerned” about the nature of mental health in college students today.

“The counseling center staff are weary, there’s no question about it,” she said. “Because we’re operating as if we are in a psychiatric emergency room.”

Hawkins recently conducted a survey with some of the state’s college and university counseling centers. She said across the state, counseling center directors want to see more clinicians placed throughout the state.

She urged lawmakers to come up with incentive programs – similar to the state’s nursing and teaching programs – to get more clinicians to stay in West Virginia, receive good pay, and be placed in both K-12 and college institutions to help with the growing need.

“The focus should be decreasing stigma, enhancing and expanding digital and mental health services. We’ve got to work upstream. We’ve got to increase connection and a sense of belonging,” Hawkins said. “We’ve drifted off course, and that was beginning before the pandemic. We’ve got to create a culture that values well being.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports in 2020, suicide among people ages 10-14 and 25-34 was the second leading cause of death in the nation. That same year, for people ages 10-64, it was among the top nine leading causes of death.

The CDC also reports nationwide, the average anxiety severity scores increased 13 percent from Aug. to Dec. 2020 and then decreased 26.8 percent from Dec. 2020 to June 2021. Similar increases and decreases occurred in depression severity scores, according to the CDC.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 for help.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Checking Email After Work May Be Bad for Your Health

A new study found checking work email during nonwork hours may be detrimental to your health.

The report out of Virginia Tech found that when employers expect personnel to monitor work email after hours, the result was increased employee anxiety, which affected not only the worker themselves, but their families as well.

The study found that employees don’t actually need to spend time on work in their off hours to experience harmful effects – just the expectation of availability was enough to increase strain for employees and their significant other.

Virginia Tech researcher William Becker said that electronic communications have resulted in an always on culture and that flexible work boundaries often turns into “work without boundaries.”

Becker said ideally, employers would institute policies that don’t require employees to check messages outside of work hours. When that’s not possible, he suggests employees try practicing mindfulness to both reduce stress and help them be fully present when interacting with family.

The study was presented earlier this month at the Academy of Management annual meeting.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Marshall Health, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.