For those of you who have read some of my past posts, the most recent ones have been two series of posts instigated by topics that I’m passionate about, feel are important, and could be thought-provoking for others. Those were on “The Healing Power of Nature” and “Transforming Ourselves and Our World” (based on the Pachamama Alliance’s Game Changer Intensive).
What I’m feeling a lot of intensity around these days, which has grown out of the previous two, is what is going on in our country and our world. There are numerous things about which I’m deeply disturbed… the threat to our democracy, the polarization, the xenophobia, the social injustice issues… to name just a few. But what has me at times nearly unglued is the ecological destabilization with its myriad effects, including climate change, which we humans are causing.
My current passion is about sustaining life on our planet, keeping it habitable, and staying resilient in the process. In addition to the passion I feel, it is fueled by a growing sense of urgency. I do believe “our house is on fire” and I believe what the scientists are saying. We are well into the sixth mass extinction on the planet and we are at the eleventh hour. We are already seeing and feeling the effects of this. I certainly see it in my psychotherapy practice. We are facing an existential crisis that is creating a mental health crisis, here and now.
So, I’m starting this series of posts with a look at the mental health effects. In March of 2017, the American Psychological Association (APA) put out a paper with the support of Climate for Health and ecoAmerica. It was titled, Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance. The paper outlined both the acute and chronic impacts and the psychological toll of climate change, including new psychological terms for the distress people are experiencing.
Here’s a summation of their report. Climate change-induced extreme weather events, a warming planet, and the resulting ramifications are eliciting the following responses: “Trauma and shock” accompanied by anxiety, phobias, depression, and alcohol and drug impairment; the more chronic “PTSD” with its depression, anxiety, and potential for suicide. A psychiatrist in the paper reported she now sees “pre-traumatic stress response (a before-the-fact version of classic PTSD); what they called “compounded stress” referring to the extra level of stress due to the climate on top of all the other stressors people are dealing with that can become disabling; “eco-anxiety”, the fear of extreme weather and worrying about the future for oneself, children, and later generations; layers of “loss and grief” including “solastalgia”, a sense of desolation due to the feeling that one is losing a place (home, a place in nature) that is important to them; and “major depression” due to the hopelessness, helplessness, and fatalism people are feeling.
The United Nations Climate Report with its “Red Alert” further highlighted the reality of these concerns about climate change and that time is of the essence. This report heightened the level of distress for many. I’ll talk more about this and how to support our resiliency in these challenging times in future posts. For now, I’ll end with a quote.
I was struck by an essay in the APA Paper addressed to mental health professionals entitled “Our Moral Obligation: The Duty to Warn and Act”. The author, Lise Van Susteren, MD stated, “Our canon of ethics says we have a duty to protect the public health and to participate in activities that contribute to it. Mental health professionals are required in all 50 states to report child abuse. It is a legal obligation, but it is also a moral one. Is it any less a moral obligation to report that we are about to hand over a destroyed planet for generations to come?” I think not.
Addendum: This post was written prior to the onset of the Covid pandemic. Needless, and an understatement, to say, Covid has been another extreme and debilitating “compounded stressor” that has further exacerbated our mental health crisis.