Climate Change

04/15/22 • 30 min

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

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

Previous Episode

Exposure to War, Violence, Shootings, and the Impact of Migration

Dr. Virani focuses on exposure to war, violence, shootings, and the impact of migration. These migrants are forced to flee from their homes due to threats of violence and death due to cultural or religious beliefs. Just as traumatic for these individuals is the ability to adapt and be accepted in their new homes.

Discussed in the episode:
Cultural Psychiatry
Pre-migration stressors
Post Migration stressors
Misdiagnosis of mental health issues in the migrant population
Tips for diagnosing and working with refugees
The emergence of compulsive symptoms years after trauma
The importance to individualize each case.
Trust in leaders of the community
Working with the religious communities to identify mental health issues

Today's guests

Dr. G. Eric Jarvis is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at McGill University and Director of the Cultural Consultation Service, the First Episode Psychosis Program, and the Culture and Psychosis Working Group at the Jewish General Hospital.

Dr. Victor Pereira-Sanchez is a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist based in New York. He obtained his medical degree (MD) in 2014 at Universidad de Navarra, in Spain, where he also completed a clinical residency program in psychiatry in 2019 and received his Ph.D. in 2021.

Next Episode

3.1 Psychiatric Residency

Join Dr. Sanya Virani and her guests, Dr. Sallie De Golia, Dr. Raziya Wang, and Dr. Csilla Lippert to discuss the invaluable new title The Psychiatry Resident Handbook which aims to provide support, experience and mentorship to new residents, a book that trainees across the country will benefit from having on their bookshelves. Editors De Golia and Wang are joined by an early career psychiatrist, Dr. Csilla Lippert, who contextualizes the book in terms of the differing experiences common in training and residency. In this episode: Introduction (0:10) What led to the creation of this book? (2:59) Why now? (6:23) How is Psychiatry different from other residencies? (9:05) The best ways to use this book (13:47) The professional development journey of residency training (19:15) Diversity in training (25:30) Differing experiences of supervision (28:03) Deliberate practice (39:00) Seeking a mentor (44:30) Sallie G. De Golia, M.D., M.P.H., is a Clinical Professor, Associate Chair of Clinician Educator Professional Development, and Co-Residency Director in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California. Raziya S. Wang, M.D., is the former Designated Institutional Official and Program Director of Psychiatry Residency Training Program at San Mateo County in San Mateo, California. She is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor, in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California. Dr. Csilla Lippert earned her undergraduate degree from the California Institute of Technology followed by a combined MD and PhD in Biomedical Sciences from University of California, San Diego. She completed her psychiatry residency training at Stanford University, where she had additional specialized training in psychotherapy and teaching other physicians. Since 2021, Dr. Lippert has been working with veterans as a telehealth staff psychiatrist for the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System. Other podcasts from the APA