A community built by its members

Ethiopian migrants to the Middle East and South Africa experience a range of problems at various stages of their migration including overwork, sleep deprivation, denial of food, emotional abuse, difficulty adapting to the host culture, salary denial, sexual abuse, labor exploitation, confiscation of their travel documents, confinement, denial of medication, lack of access to legal service and degrading attitude by employers, traffickers and smugglers. These experiences can be associated with different types of mental disorders. This study sought to determine the prevalence of common mental disorders (CMD) and socio-demographic and other migration related associated factors among Ethiopian migrant returnees from the Middle East and South Africa.A cross-sectional study was conducted using non-probability (i.e. purposive, availability and snowball) sampling techniques. Migrant returnees (n = 1036) were contacted individually at their homes in eight high prevalent immigrant returnee locations in Ethiopia. Common mental disorders were assessed using the self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20) and a structured questionnaire was employed to collect data on socio-demographic and migration related characteristics. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, univariate logistic regression, and multivariable logistic regression.

ABSTRACT: The ecological crisis, characterised by various interconnected environmental problems, has emerged as a significant source of anxiety, commonly known as 'eco-anxiety'. This psychological distress stemming from ecological threats carries profound implications for human and nonhuman well-being. Research suggests that while a strong connection with nature can increase eco-anxiety, cultivating and sustaining this connection can also serve as a coping mechanism to mitigate its negative effects. This study investigates the interplay between eco-anxiety, nature connection and well-being, suggesting directions for future research, education initiatives, therapeutic practices and policy development that can help individuals not only cope with eco-anxiety but transform it into a source of empowerment and active engagement with the natural world.

From Earth Ethics Australia Vol.1 (AELA, 2019), pp.1-6. Mary Graham is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Queensland and a member of the Kombumerri Peoples. There are two basic precepts of Aboriginal law: the land is the source of the law, and you are not alone. In Aboriginal law, the land is a sacred entity, not property or real estate; it is the great mother of all humanity and is the source of life and law. The two most important kinds of relationship in life are, firstly, those between land and people and, secondly, those amongst people themselves, the second always being contingent upon the first. There are four essential attributes to the relationist ethos: a custodial ethic, locality, autonomy and balance. Ethics only come from having empathy and from looking after something outside ourselves. If there were an Aboriginal equivalent to Descartes' 'I think, therefore I am', it would be: 'I am located, therefore I am.'

The urgency to reply to climate change requires a governance perspective that connects multiple societal levels and sectors and involves a plurality of actors. Psychologists should take an important role in addressing the ongoing climate crisis, together with other practitioners, scholars, policymakers and citizens. This systematic review aims to show the contribution psychology has offered in the governance of climate change, illustrating how psychological scholarship is positioned in the interdisciplinary discourse on climate governance and the way psychological constructs and theories are implemented.

Dr Sally Gillespie is a writer, workshop facilitator, lecturer and public speaker with a background in depth psychology and ecopsychology. In this talk, drawing on her book Climate Crisis and Consciousness, Gillespie explores why we feel what we feel about the climate crisis -- including grief, anger, anxiety and hope -- and how facing these feelings, individually and collectively, can support the development of ecological consciousness and meaningful climate engagement.

A panel discussion led by Margaret Klein Salamon, author of Facing the Climate Emergency, exploring the emotional challenges of facing the climate crisis and how pain can be used to transform oneself and one's community rather than causing paralysis. Salamon is joined by three panellists: Sally Gillespie, author of Climate Crisis and Consciousness and co-founder of the Climate Wellbeing Network in Sydney, who speaks to how joining with others to address the crisis can reshape an isolated experience of self into a connected one; Charles LeFeuvre, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist with long involvement in psychological approaches to climate change; and Susie Burke, a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and author of the Climate Change Empowerment Handbook, with a particular interest in raising children in a climate-altered world.