Climate change has been described as the greatest existential threat we face. Increasingly, the mental health harms of climate change are being revealed in clinical and community-level settings, while simultaneously the mental health effects are understudied and underrecognized. Climate change creates a profound burden on mental health—including disproportionately affecting the mentally ill and other vulnerable populations. Individuals have an increasing firsthand knowledge of the climactic effects in their communities from rising and record temperatures to a greater frequency of extreme weather events. The psychological effects of climate change and global warming include but are not limited to: depression, anxiety (including eco-anxiety), PTSD, pre-traumatic stress, increased and worsening substance use disorders, and complex grief. Suicide rates increase with increasing temperatures in the U.S. as well as abroad. The mentally ill are a particularly vulnerable population to the effects of extreme heat as well as other sequellae of climate change. Furthermore, extreme weather events stress the mental health care delivery system. Given the known acceleration of warming, it is of the utmost importance and urgency to form methods for action and engagement on this topic.

Based explicitly on the work of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance (CPA) and the UCSF Climate Change and Mental Health Task Force, this panel will equip participants with a structure for addressing this crucial issue with their patients, communities, and themselves. The session will describe the problem, present a model for understanding the issue, and provide a pathway for action. Using didactic presentations, vignettes, and discussion with the audience, this session will discuss a six-component model engineered by CPA: 1). acute climate disasters, 2) slow moving disasters, 3) extreme heat effects, 4) eco-distress, 5) vulnerable populations, and 6) engagement and action. During the overview, these six components will be discussed with attention to acute climate disasters, slow moving disasters, and extreme health effects. Separate panels will explore eco-distress and vulnerable populations. Particular focus will be given to the mental health effects and vulnerabilities of the mentally ill. We will end the session with concrete information on how medical and public health professionals can address this growing threat.