We need to talk

about mental health

in a changing climate

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#ClimateCares

Introducing your co-hosts

Dr Emma Lawrance

Mental Health Innovations Fellow,

Institute of Global Health Innovation

Professor David Nabarro

Co-Director, Institute of Global Health Innovation

Special Envoy on COVID-19, World Health Organization

Gratitude helps us to quiet our minds and ground in the present.

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It can stimulate empathy and confidence, while opening our minds to feel the full range of emotions, even the more uncomfortable ones.

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Reflection activity 1:

Grounding in gratitude

“Especially when we’re scared, gratitude can hold us steady for the work that must be done.”

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Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone

From the book ‘Active Hope’

Reflection activity 1:

Grounding in gratitude

Reflection activity 1:

Grounding in gratitude

Take out your phone and

go to www.menti.com and enter code 7635 1028

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or click the link in the chat

Understanding the impact of climate change on our

mental health

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Reflection activity:

Opening our hearts

PART 1

(15 mins)

Understanding the impact of climate change on our

mental health

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Reflection activity:

Opening our hearts

PART 1

Becoming active participants in the future we hope to create

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Reflection activity:

Seeing with new eyes

(15 mins)

PART 2

(15 mins)

Understanding the impact of climate change on our

mental health

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Reflection activity:

Opening our hearts

PART 1

Becoming active participants in the future we hope to create

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Reflection activity:

Seeing with new eyes

Panel discussion with a live Q&A from the audience

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Reflection activity:

Going forth

(15 mins)

PART 2

(15 mins)

PART 3

(50 mins)

“How we achieve wellbeing for everyone everywhere on a thriving planet will be the most poignant chapter of the story of our species”

Christiana Figueres & Tom Rivett-Carnac,

From the book ‘The Future we Choose’

Understanding the impact of

climate change on our mental health

PART 1

(15 mins)

“We cannot close our ears or turn our eyes away from all the pain.”

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Christiana Figueres & Tom Rivett-Carnac,

From the book ‘The Future we Choose’

Mental health support

Shout

24/7 crisis text line

Text 85258

www.giveusashout.org

Climate Psychology Alliance

Offers free therapeutic support for those experiencing distress in the face of the climate crisis

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www.climatepsychology

alliance.org

Samaritans

24/7 phone line

Call 116 123

www.samaritans.org

Mental health resource hub

Wide range of mental health services around the world.

www.wearespur.com/org/�mentalhealthhub

Safe in our world

Find local websites and emergency contact numbers

www.safeinourworld.org/find-help/

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Mental Health

Climate change

"When you talk about climate change and mental health,

most people don't put two and two together."

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Member of the public

Climate change is a mental health emergency

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Mental Health

Climate change

Climate change both directly and indirectly impacts mental health outcomes

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Climate change

impacts

Gradual changes in average climatic conditions

(e.g. temperature, sea level)​

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Acute extreme

weather events

(e.g. floods, fires)​

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Chronic extreme

climate events

(e.g. droughts)​

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Community

impacts

Mental health

impacts

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Climate change

impacts

Community

impacts

Mental health

impacts

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Climate change

impacts

Community

impacts

Mental health

impacts

Increased cases of suicidal thoughts and deaths by suicide

Increased symptoms and new cases of diagnosable mental illness​

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Increased susceptibility to physical ill-health or death for those with diagnosable mental illness

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Worsened population mental health​

Mental and

emotional distress​

Direct Impacts: Temperature

By 2050, there will be an estimated 22,000 extra suicides in the USA and Mexico alone due to higher temperatures if climate change is not addressed

Psychological impacts from any form of disaster can exceed physical injury by 40–1

Direct Impacts: Extreme Weather Events

73% said they are very worried about the state of the planet right now

Indirect Impacts

In a survey of 2,000 young people aged 8 - 16:

56% think humanity is doomed, and ⅔ are sad and scared

Across 25 countries negative emotions about climate change are related to insomnia and poorer mental health

In a survey of 10,000 young people aged 16 - 25:

BBC �https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51451737

Hickman et al. 2021�https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3918955

Ogunbode et al. 2021�https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-021-01385-4

Who is the most affected?

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Elderly

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Climate scientists �and professionals

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Directly affected

and those with family �directly affected

Parents

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and potential parents

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Decision makers

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and those working with �decision makers

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Activists

Schools and teachers

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Indigenous peoples

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Children and�young people

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People with pre-existing mental illness

Part of a wider complex system

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The richest 1% of the world’s population cause twice as much carbon dioxide as the poorest 50%.

Guardian

By 2050, [the climate crisis] could force 143 million people to move within their own countries to escape it’s slow-onset impacts.

WRI

Women make up 80% of people displaced by climate change. While women account for less than 30% of most major national and global climate change negotiating bodies.

BBC

People who live in places with poor air quality are more likely to die from COVID-19

Harvard

We may think of these issues in silos, but they are all intrinsically linked

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Climate change & biodiversity loss

Mental & physical health

COVID-19

Capitalism &

consumerism

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Global

inequality

Reflection activity 2:

Opening our hearts

A strong emotional response to climate change is normal, essential even. It shows that you care and have compassion for others and our world.

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It's important to be aware of these emotions without judgment, not to pathologise, and instead use them as a tool for healing, action and connection.

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Reflection activity 2:

Opening our hearts

"Start to find the beauty and the benefit of suffering, because to suffer means to be touched by something."

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Caroline Hickman,

Psychotherapist, Teacher and Researcher

Reflection activity 2:

Opening our hearts

Take out your phone and

go to www.menti.com and enter code 7635 1028

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or click the link in the chat

Becoming active participants

in the future we hope to create

PART 2

(15 mins)

“Despite that reality, and in fact maybe even because of it, we do have the potential to activate ourselves in an opposite direction.”

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Christiana Figueres & Tom Rivett-Carnac,

From the book ‘The Future we Choose’

Climate change is a mental health emergency

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Mental Health

Climate change

Climate change both directly and indirectly impacts mental health outcomes

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Mental Health

Climate change

The climate and ecological crises are fundamentally attributable to human behaviours and psychology. Our actions and the actions of other people are influenced by how we mentally and emotionally respond to Climate change.

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Our state of mind also

impacts the state of our world

Generating individual and system change requires an awareness of the interaction between our psychological response to crises and taking action.

Win wins for people and planet

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Mental Health

Climate change

There are key parallels between the world we need to create for a safe climate, and that which supports mental wellbeing. Many co-benefits exist within our travel, energy, food, social and healthcare systems.

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Common causes, common solutions

Improving the energy efficiency of housing​

Examples of common solutions

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Increased provision

of cycling and walking facilities​

Increased provision

of green and blue spaces

Connected communities taking action on climate

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• Homes more affordable

to heat​

• Reduction in fuel poverty​
• Improvements in mental health

• More physical activity improves mental wellbeing
• Reductions in air and noise pollution improves mental health

• Trees and water help to reduce temperature extreme
• Connection to nature reduces stress and anxiety

• Provides greater sense of agency and control
• Build social connection
• Helps to alleviate eco-anxiety

When you look, there are examples of hope everywhere

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“Cycling has become an essential part of life in Paris, thanks to the commitment of the mayor. We already had more than 1,000 km of cycling infrastructure, and much more has been rolled out since the health crisis,”

“We’re a community of

young people passionately promoting the message of sustainability through engaging projects & events.

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We envision a world where doing the right thing for

the planet is normalized.”

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“We’re a permaculture landscape design and education enterprise that creates resilient and regenerative lives and landscapes.

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Our approach to life is centered around the concept of radical homemaking.”

Organisations, such as GP surgeries, refer vulnerable

people to SHINE. SHINE then gives advice on fuel debt and energy efficiency, and helps residents access discounts on fuel bills and grants for new boilers. SHINE has saved 3,200 tonnes of CO2 and £700,000 annually by its beneficiaries.

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Corinne Menegaux,

Director of Paris office of tourism

Sustyvibes

https://beta.sustyvibes.com/

Good Life Permaculture

goodlifepermaculture.com.au/about/

SHINE

https://ashden.org/winners/shine/

UK

France

Australia

Africa

Taking a closer look at hope...

Passive hope

Wanting external agencies to bring about the world we desire.

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“What’s the point in doing anything if it wont change what we are heading for?”

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Active hope

Becoming active participants in bringing about what we hope for

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Sources:

Active Hope, Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone

Meaning Focused Coping, Maria Ojala

“What is the future do you

desire and long for?”

Passive hope

Failing systems and doomed economy

of industrial growth

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Looks like: economic decline; resource depletion; climate change; social division and war; mass extinction of species

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Common emotions when we imagine this future:

Fear, anxiety, guilt, grief, despair, fatalism, anger

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Active Hope

Life-sustaining society committed to the recovery of our world

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Looks like: collective movements; a change in perception, thinking, and values; new economic and social structures

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Common emotions when we imagine this future:

Agency, determination, empowerment, love

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Possible futures....

All or nothing thinking

Holding the tension between both futures

Things are bad and we can change the direction of our future.

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We can feel anxious about the future

and feel hopeful that our actions will create a more beautiful future.

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There is power in committing to this change in perspective.

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Reflection activity 3:

Seeing with new eyes

To become a active participant in bringing about the change we hope to see, we first need to go out into the world and find hope, imagine it, bring it to life our hope for the future.

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Reflection activity 3:

Seeing with new eyes

“I believe in our human capacity to care deeply and to act collectively. I believe in our ability to do what is right if we let ourselves feel it in our hearts.”

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Elizabeth Wathuti

Kenyan Environmentalist and Climate Activist

Reflection activity 3:

Seeing with new eyes

Take out your phone and

go to www.menti.com and enter code 7635 1028

​

or click the link in the chat

Panel discussion with a

live Q&A from the audience

PART 3

(50 mins)

Asking questions

to the panel

Take out your phone and

go to www.menti.com and enter code 7635 1028

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or click the link in the chat

Introducing the panellists

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Professor David Nabarro (chair)

Special Envoy on COVID-19, World Health Organization,

Co-Director, Institute of Global Health Innovation

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Dr Lisa Page

Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist & Clinical Senior Lecturer, Royal College of Psychiatrists (also Brighton & Sussex Medical School (BSMS) & Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust)

Elizabeth Wathuti

Kenyan Environmentalist and Climate Activist, Founder of Green Generation Initiative and the Head of Campaigns at Wangari Maathai Foundation

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Dr Emma Lawrance

Mental Health Innovations Fellow,

Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London

Dr Gary Belkin

Founder and President,

Billion Minds Institute

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Dr Fahmy Hanna

Technical Officer Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, co-Chair IASC Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, World Health Organization

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Reflection activity 4:

Going forth

Everyone has a unique role to play in shaping our collective future. We will now explore how we take the learnings from today and apply them to our own lives.

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How can we connect to ourselves, others, and our environment with a deeper sense of empathy, imagination, and purpose?

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Reflection activity 4:

Going forth

"My truth will only land if you have the grace to fully listen. My story will only move you if you can open up your hearts. I can urge you to act at the pace and scale necessary, but in the end, your will to act must come from within.”

Elizabeth Wathuti

Kenyan Environmentalist and Climate Activist

Reflection activity 4:

Going forth

Take out your phone and

go to www.menti.com and enter code 7635 1028

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or click the link in the chat

Thank you for everyone involved

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#ClimateCares

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Further resources: The Work that Reconnects

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Coming from Gratitude

Being in a place a receive

Honor our feelings

Opening our hearts

Seeing with new eyes

Choosing our future

Going forth

Acting with intention

Source: Work that Reconnects framework, Elizabeth Wathuti’s COP26 speech

Policy briefing paper

Intervention study

Research study

Further resources: Climate Cares outputs

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Policy briefing paper exploring the impact of climate change on mental health and emotional wellbeing, outlining the current evidence and implications for policy and practice.

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Co-designed intervention that provides young people with a personalised way to help them to healthily process and respond to the climate and ecological crises and implement impactful climate action.

Surveying 500+ young people across the UK to understand their psychological responses, mental health and sense of agency for the dual challenges of climate change and a global pandemic.

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View Briefing Paper

Sign up to Study

View Paper Preprint

Further resources

Support tools

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Climate Cares Journal

Self-guided intervention study for young people.

tinyurl.com/climateactionemotions

Resilience project

Peer-to-peer support circles, by young people for young people.

www.theresilienceproject.org.uk/

Force of Nature

Youth group working to empower young people to turn their eco-anxiety into agency, and work with leaders across business and education to drive intergenerational solutions.

www.forceofnature.xyz/

Project Inside Out

Project InsideOut seeks to create a new mindset for engaging communities on our urgent climate and sustainability issues.

www.projectinsideout.net/

Work that Reconnects

Helps people discover and experience their innate connections with each other and the self-healing powers of the web of life, transforming despair and overwhelm into inspired, collaborative action.

www.workthatreconnects.org/�resources/practices/

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ReachNOLA

Resilience & Recovery in New Orleans:

The ReachNOLA Mental health infrastructure

and Training Project.

https://aims.uw.edu/sites/default/�files/ReachNOLA.pdf

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Further resources

Books

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Further resources

Podcasts

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Further resources

Films

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