Dr. Virani focuses on the impact of Climate Change, and associated emergent anxieties, on our underlying mental health. Climate Change is affecting our livelihoods, our environments and our perceptions of the future; with implications on how we act and how we perceive our day-to-day lives. Virani (and guests) consider examples of patients presenting with climate-change specific conditions, discuss case-histories, and look for evidence that organizations are acting to address the causes and effects of Climate Change.

Discussed in the episode:

• Current data on Climate Change anxiety as a factor impacting mental health (3:00)
• Case study: “Jim” (5:15)
• Transformational Resilience (7:00)
• Don’t Look Up (11:45)
• Examples of improvement in climate change response at APA (13:15)
• Mental-health factors affecting “Jim” (15:15)
• Case-study: “Hannah” (18:30)
• Mental-health factors affecting “Hannah” (21:52)
• APA conference carbon footprint study (24:45)

Guests:

• Elizabeth Haase is Medical Director of Psychiatry for Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of Nevada at Reno School of Medicine. She chairs the Committees on Climate Change and Mental Health for the American Psychiatric Association and the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry and is a founding member of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance.
• Joshua Wortzel is a chief resident in psychiatry at the University of Rochester, and he will be starting his child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Brown University in June. During residency, he is pursuing a Master’s in Health Professions Education at the University of Rochester. He is a member of the APA Committee on Climate and Mental Health, a steering committee member of the non-profit Climate Psychiatry Alliance, and a participant of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry – Climate Committee. He also serves as the chair of the APA/APAF Leadership Fellowship.

Links:

Visit the CPA website here.

The effects of Climate Change on Mental Health film

Carbon Footprint JAMA article

Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay, 2021) is available on Netflix.

Climate Psychiatry: What Every Psychiatrist Should Know APA course

More podcasts from the American Psychiatric Association