The Second Storm: Climate change and our community’s mental health

As Hurricane Melissa, a monstrous Category 5 storm, churns across the Caribbean, leaving a trail of devastation in Jamaica and beyond, our hearts and minds are with our families and friends on the islands. We watch the news, we make the calls, we send the money, but as the floodwaters recede and the physical damage is tallied, a second, more insidious storm is just beginning to gather force: a profound and escalating mental health crisis silently battering our communities, both in the Caribbean and here in Toronto.

This is about addressing the trauma of a single event, and about the relentless, grinding anxiety of living under constant climatic threat. It has a name: eco-anxiety. A recent UNICEF report highlighted this phenomenon among Caribbean youth, describing an overwhelming fear caused by the looming threat of environmental destruction. This anxiety manifests as sleep disturbances, mood swings, and a pervasive sense of helplessness. For many in our diaspora, this trauma is experienced vicariously, a constant, low-humming dread for the safety of loved ones and the future of our ancestral homes.

“Across the Caribbean, mental health budgets are alarmingly low.”

This “climate within,” as one regional commentator called it, is crashing against a mental healthcare system that was already under-resourced long before the storms intensified. Across the Caribbean, mental health budgets are alarmingly low, often accounting for less than 5% of national health spending. The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) recently reported that depression and anxiety are the region’s largest mental health burden, yet over 70% of those who need care never receive it.

Climate change acts as a threat multiplier, layering the trauma of displacement and loss onto communities already struggling with a silent pandemic of untreated mental health conditions.

These challenges do not disappear when our people land in Canada. While the “healthy immigrant effect” is well-documented, the mental health of our community is worn down by the unique stressors of migration, systemic discrimination, and the psychological burden of watching climate crises unfold back home. As Sir Ronald Sanders, a respected regional diplomat, noted, “We speak of crime, of unemployment, of education gaps, but mental health cuts across all of them. Every unaddressed case carries social and economic costs that families and future generations quietly pay.”

“In the Caribbean, youth are channeling their anxiety into “eco-optimism,”

Yet, amidst this growing crisis, there are powerful seeds of hope and resilience. In the Caribbean, youth are channeling their anxiety into “eco-optimism,” leading beach clean-ups and demanding climate justice. Here in Canada, a vital new initiative offers a path forward. In October 2025, the Canadian government launched the Promoting Health Equity: Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund, a program designed to support culturally focused mental health initiatives for African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) communities.

This fund is supporting critical, on-the-ground projects, from strengthening perinatal mental healthcare for Black mothers to providing trauma-informed support for youth and addressing the unique challenges faced by Black LGBTQIA+ immigrants. It represents a long-overdue recognition that mental healthcare must be culturally competent and community-led to be effective.

This is our call to action. The devastation of Hurricane Melissa must be a catalyst for a deeper conversation about the invisible wounds of climate change. We must break the cultural silence that has long surrounded mental health, replacing stigma with support. We should continue to demand that our leaders, both in Canada and the Caribbean, integrate mental health support into every climate resilience and disaster response plan. The first storm tears down our homes; the second, if left unchecked, can tear down our people.