I lost my home in the cyclone, now I panic when it rains

“When it rains heavily I’m always alert, my anxiety does start to rise… I get a bit shaky in my voice.”

Jayden and his whānau escaped their home in Napier during Cyclone Gabrielle by the skin of their teeth.

Now, they’re dealing with the impacts the climate has left on their mental health.

Clinical psychologist and eco-anxiety researcher Lucy McLean says that climate change is impacting some people’s “ability to just go about their lives. So being able to sleep, being able to eat.”

“Good climate policy is good mental health policy,” she says.

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