Christian Ethical Response to the Impact of Eco-Anxiety on Mental Health of Farmers in Nigeria

Mental health remains a multidimensional concept that concerns an individual’s emotional, psychological, social, and behavioural functioning. This multidimensional understanding is critical for addressing emerging forms of distress among farmers. The paper focuses on one such distress: eco-anxiety, which is an increasing awareness of climate change. The paper examines the causes of eco-anxiety, which include factors such as climate change and environmental degradation, direct experience of environmental disasters, fear of the future, ecological loss and grief, and guilt and personal responsibility. The study identifies the profound and multidimensional effects of this anxiety, which include psychological distress, feelings of helplessness and powerlessness, anger and frustration, sleep disturbance, and social and interpersonal effects. Hence, the paper proposes a Christian ethical response, including environmental education, accurate information, access to mental health support, the development of adaptive coping mechanisms, and the promotion of social support and community participation, to mitigate the impact of eco-anxiety on farmers' mental health in Nigeria.