Maslow's hierarchy
Everyone is driven to do stuff by a need, in the brain scientist think this is mediated by the neurotransmitter dopamine which acts as the bodies way to get you to consciously do something, much like managing a donkey with a carrot and a stick.
If you are hungry you buy some food, if you are thirsty you buy water. These basic needs can be catergorised into what is most powerful and therefore comes first, i.e. you wouldn't worry about your self esteem if you were starving. After the basics are covered you proceed up to another category of needs, Safety and so on. Maslow thought about this enough to create a human hierarchy of needs, the idea is that once a lower level is fulfilled a person moves to the next, stage above.
In relation to the environment and mental health it seems that humans primary levels need to be met before they can address these issues. Universal Basic Income, the idea where a central body provides the lower rungs has been shown to decrease mental health issues[1] and allow people to not behave in environmentally destructive work patterns and concentrate on other things.
- ↑ Canada’s forgotten universal basic income experiment: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200624-canadas-forgotten-universal-basic-income-experiment