to investigate the relationship between climate change perceptions and mental well-being (Howard et al. 2020). Survey results revealed the following:
- The majority of respondents (72%) agreed that climate change is having an adverse effect on their farm or ranch.
- Nearly three quarters of respondents reported feeling moderate to high levels of anxiety when thinking about climate effects on their agricultural business.
- The greater the reported perceived risk regarding climate change, the greater the level of reported anxiety.
- The impact of climate change on farm/ranch profitability was perceived as a main cause of distress.
One Montana producer commented, “[I am] worried about crop losses of current and future years, and about where funds will come for dealing with climate change on the farm. As with most, my worries generally stem from financial stress.”
Another respondent shared, “Climate change contributes to my distress because it makes planning for long-term crops more difficult and predicting weather patterns less predictable.”
Public-health preparedness efforts are warranted to provide mental health support for the agricultural sector. Research and outreach efforts are further called for to promote the adoption of practices that mitigate climate risk and enhance personal and food-system resilience. Linkages between climate-induced anxiety and an increasingly aging and female farm and ranch population should also be studied. Policy discussions at various scales should be considered to address financial risk to agricultural enterprises in the face of increased climate variability.
The mental health impacts of climate change are profound and varied. Elevated temperatures have been related to worsening a) mental health status (Obradovich et al. 2018); b) diminished cognitive function (Laurent et al. 2018); c) increased violence (Clayton et al. 2017); d) increased interpersonal aggression in the form of domestic violence, abuse, and rapes (Hsiang et al. 2013); and e) suicide (Page et al. 2007). Even small increases in temperature, in one case comparing average monthly temperatures between 25-30°C (77-86°F) with those over 30°C (86°F), can lead to significant increases in mental illness (Obradovich et al. 2018).
People with preexisting mental illness are at increased risk following weather-related events (Trombley et al. 2017), as are youth (Paulson et al. 2015; Orengo-Aguayo et al. 2019). Likewise, climate “surprises” (see Section 2) such as flooding (Lamond et al. 2015), wildfires, or storms have been shown to impact mental health. Those impacts include increases in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts. A sense of community loss and, in many cases, displacement can also result following sudden extreme events, or they may occur over time with slower, sustained climate change impacts (e.g., persistent drought or sea-level rise) (Hayes et al. 2018; Palinkas and Wong 2019).
Montana has one of the highest per capita suicide rates in the country (CDC 2018; AAS 2020a,b). This unfortunate reality, coupled with limited access to mental health professionals in most rural areas of the state, greatly heightens the importance of preparedness planning in Montana to address anxiety, stress, and other mental health issues exacerbated by climate change.
Montana has one of the highest per capita suicide rates in the country (CDC 2018; AAS 2020a,b), discussed in detail in Section 4. This unfortunate reality, coupled with limited access to mental health professionals in most rural areas of the state, greatly heightens the importance of preparedness planning in Montana to address anxiety, stress, and other mental health issues exacerbated by climate change (see sidebar). The Montana health workforce does not have widely available access to training on how to address climate anxiety and post-disaster trauma; nor does it have information on the tracking of climate stressors (Doppelt 2016).
 Montanans could feel indirect influences of sea-level rise, for example if coastal po