Climate crisis is a major social determinant of health and mental health. Psychiatric conditions and other mental health impacts often emerge from and/or are affected by climate crisis. Building community resilience is a key component in the public mental health effort to address the health risks associated with climate crisis. Mental health professionals can play a role in speaking out about these threats, advocate for rational policies to address the threats to health posed by climate crisis, and facilitate recovery from the immediate and longer term climate crisis related disasters.
1. Recognize the reality of the climate crisis and its impact on health.
2.Recognize immediate and urgent mental health and public health impacts of climate crisis.
3.Recognize ethical and public health duties for mental health professionals to speak out about these threats and to advocate for rational policies to address the threats to health posed by climate crisis.
4. Understand roles that mental health professionals can perform in facilitating recovery from immediate and longer term climate crisis related disasters.
5. Become aware of available resources to facilitate such public health and mental health activities.
David Pollack, M.D., is Professor Emeritus for Public Policy in the department of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). His activities include teaching, writing, and consulting on policy, systems, and health care leadership issues for local, state, and national organizations. Dr. Pollack worked as a community and public psychiatrist in Oregon through his entire career. He was a pivotal participant in Oregon’s pioneering health reform efforts. Since retiring from his academic activities at OHSU in 2018, he has primarily dedicated his post-retirement professional time to the public health and mental health impacts of the climate crisis. He is a founding member of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance and has been pivotal in many of the climate related policy and educational initiatives conducted through the American Psychiatric Association and other health related organizations.
