Psychologist sees solutions to climate impact on mental health
The use of academic, technical or high-level English often makes information quite complicated to many people.
But such language is necessary for Dr. John Jamir Benzon Aruta, an associate professor at De La Salle University, as he navigates the difficult concepts that laypeople would not understand.
Aruta, 36, has been named one of The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) for 2025, an honor recognizing his advocacy and practice of environmental and climate psychology.
He has sought to link climate change and mental health in his endeavors, and has helped establish an institution that highlights how environmental damage affects people’s well-being.
‘Planetary health’ advocate
Since its inception in 1959, TOYM (formerly the Ten Outstanding Young Men) has recognized hundreds of exceptional individuals who have excelled in their respective fields and made significant contributions to society.
According to President Marcos, the 2025 awardees “earn distinction not only because they excel in their professions, but because they choose to utilize excellence in places where service demands resolve and resilience.”
“Their journeys remind us that progress is evident and often emerges in institutions made more capable, with opportunities widened, and a nation steadily moving towards a better direction,” he said.
In honoring Aruta, TOYM called him a “champion of planetary health.”
“Planetary health is a new field,” he said. “Basically it says that, yes, a healthy human society is important but we cannot achieve that if we do not have environmental health and overall planetary health. We need to take care of our nature and our planet and all other living beings. You cannot be healthy in an unhealthy planet.”
Psychology background
Aruta, who finished a psychology degree at Philippine Normal University, said his interest in climate change and mental health began during his adolescence in his hometown of General Trias, Cavite.
He earned his master’s in education, majoring in guidance and counseling, in the same university, before he pursued a Ph.D. in counseling psychology with specialization in clinical counseling at La Salle.
Aruta is also a clinical practitioner, providing mental health assessment, counseling and psychotherapy for children, adolescents and early adults.
Among his research programs are the application of psychology principles in promoting environmental sustainability, the interface between climate change and mental health, and the mental health of neglected and marginalized populations.
Effect of calamities
Aruta said the expertise of psychology is important to better understand and help improve the behavior of people to pay closer attention to the environment.
“As many people know, environmental decline, environmental problems and degradations are primarily caused by human actions. We are the ones destroying the environment,” he said. “We study how we can improve and motivate people to become more pro-environment with their actions—how can they support policies, how can we motivate people support policies for the environment, how can we also understand the way environmental problems affect psychological health and well-being of the people?”
He noted that “The scientific evidence regarding mental health impacts of environmental problems, specifically climate change, is getting bigger and more glaring.”
“Many [among calamity victims] get traumatized,” Aruta said. “There are people who manifest trauma symptoms at the sound of rain. Many Filipinos, including farmers, become depressed due to loss of livelihood and lack of wholistic support for recovery.”
He said studies outside the country also show that climate disasters—from typhoons to extreme heat—drive suicide particularly among low-income communities.
“Instances of domestic abuse, even sexual abuse, are high whenever temperature increases and this is a critical ingredient for poor mental health or a very harsh environment,” he said. “We also know that psychiatric patients have a higher tendency to suffer attacks when temperature is high and this is based on studies in other countries where they have a more centralized data.”
Youth worried about future
He also bared that studies focused on young people show their concern about climate change.
“Especially among the Gen Zs who are more exposed to climate change and the information around it. Many of them worry about their future. How do you navigate a future that is heavily impacted by climate change especially [since] it’s clear we’re not really on track as a global society to stop climate crisis?” Aruta stressed.
“This study was published on Lancet Planetary Health,” he said about his group’s research. “They cited several countries including the Philippines. When we saw the results of the study, we have the most number of children and young people who were very anxious about climate change, depressed about environmental losses, and angry about the lack of accountability and lack of action by governments.”
But Aruta believes climate change can also be a motivation for the youth to engage in that issue.
“Many of those concerned about climate change… act with the environment in mind. Many of them help to create policies for the environment,” he said.
