Presentation
By

Speaker(s):

Jacob Lee, MD

Presentation:

Climate change is the central crisis of the Anthropocene, a species-level threat which is part of a short list of dangers to offer true existential threat to Humans. When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released their groundbreaking Global Warming of 1.5°C Special Report in 2018 they built upon the undeniable body of evidence which had propelled 195 nations to enact the Paris Climate Accords two years earlier. Climate change threatens to become the greatest source of human misery over the next one or two human lifetimes. Natural disasters like wildfires and heatwaves, hurricanes and floods have displaced many, while desertification causes countless climate refugees. Weather-related events displace more than 20,000,000 globally each year. Disasters also cause a different kind of psychological distress than seasonal weather patterns, and cause more disruption to normal life patterns. But the implications of climate change can be more direct, with associations with the above conditions increasingly coming to light.

Rates of PTSD, depression and anxiety are found to rise sharply following flooding, another natural disaster of increasing prevalence due to anthropomorphic climate change. Heat waves have been found to directly contribute to mood disorders and anxiety, and people with mental illness are at three times increased risk to die from a heat wave than neuro-typical controls. Extreme heat’s associations with suicide attempts and heat-related violence may also be of direct interest to the psychiatrist. Thanks to an expanding body of evidence linking environmental factors to psychiatric outcomes through mechanisms including epigenetics, congenital defects, or impaired neurodevelopment, the importance of these considerations will continue to grow within psychiatry.

Objectives:

  1. Briefly outline critical milestones and projections for earth’s climate
  2. Identify direct and indirect associations between classical psychiatric conditions and rising temperatures, natural disasters, and other climate outcomes.
    1. PTSD
    2. Depression
    3. Suicidality
    4. Anxiety
    5. Substance use disorders
  3. Discuss climate-related anxiety

Slides and Handouts:

LEE_VERSION 2_Grand Rounds Climate Change STI

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