Yale Psychiatry Grand Rounds: "What Does Climate Change Have to do with Mental Health?"

May 31, 2024

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May 31, 2024

"What Does Climate Change Have to do with Mental Health?"

Speaker: Lise Van Susteren, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral, George Washington University

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00:00To be here.
00:03Good morning, good afternoon,
00:04good evening, wherever you are.
00:07And John Krista,
00:08I hope you don't mind my saying this,
00:10but a personal note to everyone here,
00:13it means a lot to me.
00:15John's father and my mother-in-law were
00:18great friends and Holocaust survivors.
00:20I hope it's OK. And my background
00:23is a painting of my mother-in-law,
00:27who that was an abstract expressionist.
00:30And it brings me great to light to have her
00:33here with me at least through her painting.
00:36So all right,
00:39climate change and mental health.
00:42I will now go to my slideshow.
00:46Here we are and hit play.
00:50All right, three main goals today.
00:53Please stop.
00:53Just make sure you share your screen.
00:56Oh, all right.
00:57I thought it had been shared.
00:59OK, one second,
01:04play. One second. Great
01:14way you go
01:17all right
01:25and play.
01:30All right. We got it.
01:31Perfect. OK, terrific.
01:33All right, Three main goals to flesh out
01:36the emotional toll of climate disruption.
01:392, to connect us not just superficially
01:42to the trauma of climate disruption,
01:44but on a deeper psychological plane.
01:47And 3rd, to harness the energy
01:49of these emotions and redirect
01:52them into constructive action.
01:54There are three parts to this presentation.
01:57Part one is the overview identifying
02:01what climate impacts carry the
02:04biggest psychological burdens.
02:06Part 2 is deepening our understanding
02:09of resistance and messaging,
02:11what promotes behavior change that sticks,
02:15and Part 3 action promoting
02:18and sustaining climate action.
02:20Maybe you will be, or are offended,
02:24as I am,
02:25with what sounds like dismissive responses
02:28to climate anxiety as more doom and gloom.
02:33The Wall Street Journal,
02:35reporting on surging climate
02:37anxiety in young people,
02:38recently referred to climate
02:41hypochondriasis in a recent column.
02:45Well off and powerful people may
02:47minimize or deny the climate
02:49crisis and their role in it,
02:52but for the response that is needed,
02:54everyone needs to realize the
02:56reality and with that the urgency.
02:59We have already reached and
03:01reached tipping points,
03:03which if you invite me back sometime
03:05I'll discuss someone understanding of
03:07the reality of the threat registers.
03:10I'll start with a short account of an
03:13experience I had a number of years ago,
03:16although it would be malpractice now.
03:18Doctors in the past would sometimes
03:21downplay or hide life threatening
03:23diagnosis from their patients.
03:26To protect them, they would say,
03:28from the emotional toll, of course.
03:31To protect themselves of course as well.
03:35I was a medical student in France.
03:37A middle-aged woman with a history of
03:40breast cancer was hospitalized for back pain,
03:42which was in reality metastasized from her
03:45breast cancer that had gone to her spine.
03:48In the hallway outside her room on rounds,
03:52the attending, in a hushed tone,
03:54told us all that he was going to tell
03:58her it was sciatica so she wouldn't be upset.
04:02As we swept into her room from the hallway,
04:05she sat upright in her bed,
04:07and the attending, peering into her chart,
04:10commented about her sciatica.
04:14Exhaling deeply,
04:15she slumped back on her pillow,
04:17murmuring about how relieved she was a
04:21Ghostamonis Duach because of my history.
04:25How much more had she suffered?
04:27I've always wondered,
04:28when she realized that she had not
04:32been told the truth, what actions?
04:34What actions might she have taken,
04:37Choices that would have been
04:39different had she known the reality?
04:42In time, I recount this to make the point.
04:46The public needs to know the reality
04:48of the dangers we face from climate.
04:51We especially need to address the
04:54truth because we can play an outsize
04:57role in sounding the alarm and driving
05:01home the need for emergency action.
05:04We have a collective responsibility
05:06to deliver these messages because
05:09we are trained and trusted,
05:11and with that comes the moral
05:13duty to warn and protect.
05:17As colleague Gary Cohen of
05:20Healthcare Without Harm says,
05:21you can't have healthy people
05:24on an unhealthy planet.
05:27Everything related to climate instability,
05:30all the losses, the injuries,
05:31the illnesses and displacement
05:34from extreme weather events,
05:36storms, floods, fires,
05:38heat waves, the slower moving,
05:41chronic and indirect impacts
05:43from sea level rise, droughts,
05:45ocean acidification,
05:47poor air quality,
05:49the spread of disease and
05:51problems with food and water,
05:53mass migrations and all the
05:57geopolitical ramifications carry with
06:00them an attendant emotional toll.
06:03And as a reminder,
06:05there is no such thing
06:06as physical harm alone.
06:08As the ancient Romans said
06:12mansana incorporate Sano a
06:15healthy body and a healthy mind.
06:17Physical and psychological
06:19states are A2 way St.
06:22What affects us physically
06:24affects us mentally,
06:25and what affects us mentally
06:27effects our physical health.
06:29As the grip of social and intergenerational
06:33injustice from inaction on climate Titans,
06:37our success in driving change turns
06:41on a defining human capacity,
06:44our ability to stir empathy.
06:47Because emotional connection is at
06:49the heart of what gets people to change.
06:53Consider how you would feel if the place
06:57you call home would be burned down,
07:00blown away, dried up,
07:04flooded when you could lose your possessions,
07:07maybe your pets,
07:08your livelihood, your community.
07:10See injuries, illness and death.
07:14The mix of fear, anger,
07:16sorrow,
07:17and trauma could easily drive a
07:20person to the breaking point.
07:22After extreme weather events,
07:24mental health professionals
07:26are seeing surging numbers of
07:28people struggling with PTSD,
07:30major depression,
07:32generalized anxiety disorders,
07:34and we have seen a rise in drug
07:37and alcohol abuse,
07:38domestic violence and child abuse.
07:42What may not fully register is the
07:45urgency with which we need to act.
07:48We are not just embroiled in climate change,
07:53but in a climate emergency defined by
07:56Earth's destabilizing climate systems.
08:00Air, water,
08:02ice,
08:02a rocky surface and the biosphere
08:06Rapidly deteriorating conditions
08:08are causing their upheaval.
08:13We'll linger on this slide.
08:15Moreover, climate change can be abrupt,
08:18not just slow and incremental,
08:21unleashing forces that cause breakaway
08:24impacts in a matter of decades or just years.
08:29As climate scientists the world over warn,
08:33the window on our ability
08:35to act in time is closing.
08:37We are reaching, and in some cases may
08:40already have crossed tipping points,
08:43the time after which planetary
08:47upheaval becomes unstoppable.
08:49Apocalyptic alterations in the
08:51conditions of our planet are possible,
08:54inconsistent with our survival.
08:56I recommend you learn more
08:59about climate tipping points.
09:01And it's not that I'm flogging it,
09:03but I wrote about them and my work was
09:06vetted by Michael Mann for an online book
09:09to be published in the next few days.
09:11Climate and Your Mind or e-mail me.
09:17Global warming is driving the
09:19increasing frequency and intensity
09:21of extreme weather events.
09:23They've doubled since the early 1990s.
09:28Some of us are lucky enough to be at a
09:31distance from the world's climate disasters,
09:33but we're not potted plants.
09:35Sitting here in empathic
09:37identification with the victims,
09:40it's painful seeing people drowned,
09:42burned, flooded, starved.
09:46Right.
09:48And when disasters are no longer
09:50experienced solely as acts of God or nature,
09:54but derived from the behavior of humans,
09:56they're even more harmful,
09:59because what happens from intentional
10:02negligence is harder to put behind
10:05us than what happens accidentally.
10:08Heat waves are the leading
10:10weather related killer in the US,
10:13seven times the losses from floods,
10:16for example.
10:17Nine of the top ten hottest years on
10:21record occurred in the last decade,
10:25with 2023 the hottest year likely
10:28for more than the last 100,000
10:32years in Delhi on May 29.
10:35Two days ago, the temperature was 127°.
10:40A medium rare steak is cooked to
10:44an internal temperature of 130°.
10:48Experts say without significant action,
10:51some cities in the Middle East
10:54will become uninhabitable before
10:56the end of the century.
10:57By the way, 33 million people live in Delhi.
11:02On July 16th, 2023,
11:04Death Valley here in the
11:07United States reached 128°.
11:11What are the direct effects?
11:13Well,
11:14we've all experienced some
11:15physical impacts of overheating,
11:17but heat stroke is another story.
11:19It is a medical emergency that
11:22can quickly lead to death.
11:24It happens when the body temperature
11:27keeps going up because our ability
11:30to cool it down under extreme
11:33circumstances isn't enough.
11:34It's a horrible way to die.
11:37Organs shut down, the brain swells,
11:40cells die.
11:41Literally bake to death.
11:44The elderly, the sick,
11:45the very young are at greatest risk.
11:49Patients taking psychotropic
11:51medications are particularly
11:53prone to heat stroke because the
11:57medications inhibit perspiration.
11:59Some indirect effects.
12:00Higher temperatures speed up the
12:03chemical reactions that form smog.
12:05Higher temperatures also favour stagnation
12:07of polluted air at ground level,
12:10where we breathe it in.
12:13Now some psychological impacts for
12:16which we have specific numbers.
12:19For each standard deviation of increased
12:21temperature and change in rainfall,
12:23we can expect a 4% increase in
12:27conflict between individuals and a 14%
12:31increase in conflict between groups.
12:34These findings are valid for
12:37all ethnicities and across
12:39every region of the world.
12:41An increase in assaults,
12:43murders and suicides as
12:46temperatures go up and rainfall
12:48changes must come as no surprise.
12:54And while any suicide is the
12:57result of complex forces,
13:00droughts from persistent high
13:02temperatures is a major contributing
13:05factor for the explosive rise in
13:07suicide among farmers in India,
13:10rural Australia and South Africa,
13:14and in the US and Mexico.
13:17And now, some bombshell news.
13:20If you know someone struggling with
13:22infertility, or you yourself have,
13:25you know how painful it is.
13:28Sperm counts in American,
13:30Australia and European men
13:32have fallen by more than 50%.
13:36Infertility, too, is complex,
13:39but exposure to an unhealthy
13:41environment is one 'cause it's been
13:45dubbed environmental castration.
13:46But a new factor in the mix,
13:49Infertility is linked to higher temperatures,
13:52and the decline appears
13:55to be transgenerational,
13:57transmitted to the next generation.
14:01Some selected chronic climate conditions.
14:05Drought. What to spare comes from watching
14:09and waiting for rains that don't come.
14:12Drought forces migration
14:14and when water is scarce,
14:16conflict is right on its heels.
14:19The UN says by 20-30, nearly half of
14:23everyone in the world will be living in
14:26countries highly stressed for water.
14:30Sea level rise 10s of millions
14:33of people live on coastlines.
14:36Americans worldwide,
14:37it's hundreds of millions,
14:40live within 30 feet of sea level.
14:44Without a sharp reduction in
14:46greenhouse gas emissions,
14:48former NASA climate scientist Doctor
14:50James Hansen warns we could see
14:53the global sea level rise of 10
14:56to 13 feet in as few as 50 years.
15:01Parts of our coastal cities would
15:02still be sinking above the water,
15:04he says, but you couldn't live there.
15:10Air pollution. The World Health
15:13Organization reports that nine out
15:16of 10 people breathe unhealthy air.
15:19Air pollution is largely result
15:22of burning fossil fuels.
15:24When coal, oil and gas are burned,
15:26they create pollutants that
15:28undergo a chemical reaction
15:30and form particulate matter,
15:32a fancy name for clumps of toxic
15:35stuff in the air that we can inhale.
15:38Warmer temperatures can speed
15:40up these chemical reactions,
15:41increasing the concentration
15:43of pollutants in the air.
15:46And while the focus is on the
15:482.5 Micron particulate matter,
15:50check out the real culprit way over
15:53on the right side of the slide.
15:55Ultra fine particulate matter
15:58measuring less than a Micron.
16:00When we inhale,
16:02the tiny particles evade natural
16:05barriers and can cross the alveoli,
16:08enter the bloodstream and be
16:11strewn throughout the body.
16:13They also can cross the brain tissue by
16:17hitching a ride on the olfactory nerve.
16:21The presence of this foreign
16:24material triggers inflammation,
16:25setting us up for a multitude
16:28of illnesses and conditions,
16:30including cancers, respiratory illnesses,
16:35cardiovascular disease.
16:37Permanent decreased lung volume in
16:39children is one reason many well to do
16:42families leave Beijing and other conditions.
16:47It is linked to dementia,
16:49including Alzheimer's type,
16:51and to other neurodegenerative
16:53disorders such as Parkinson's and
16:57amniotrophic glabulosclerosis.
16:58And mental health professionals.
17:01To be colloquial, listen up.
17:03Multiple lines of evidence support
17:06a link between neuro inflammation
17:08and classic psychiatric illness.
17:11Major depressive disorders,
17:13bipolar disorder,
17:15schizophrenia,
17:16obsessive compulsive disorders.
17:19Increased risks of psychosis.
17:21Rates of psychosis in young people
17:25have also been linked to pollution,
17:28and on days of poor air quality,
17:30visits to the ER for panic attacks
17:34and threats to commit suicide rise.
17:38Polluted air reduces cognitive performance.
17:43Other impacts of higher temperatures.
17:46Ecosystems disrupted hunger.
17:48Our food supply at risk.
17:52Climate change leads to food
17:54insecurity by reducing the amount and
17:56quality of the food we can produce.
18:03Crops grown under elevated atmospheric
18:07CO2 concentrations contain less protein.
18:10These micronutrient deficiencies
18:12are linked to cognitive disorders,
18:15depression, behavioral disorders,
18:17and mental illness,
18:19and a host of other physical
18:22illnesses and conditions and deaths.
18:25Maybe you are familiar with
18:27Aquatia Coors syndrome.
18:29When I was a doctor in Africa I
18:31saw children die of quashio cores.
18:33It's not something you forget.
18:37the United Nations Environmental Program
18:40has declared that transitioning to a
18:44low carbon plant based diet is the only
18:47way to save the world from hunger,
18:50fuel shortage, shortages and climate change.
18:53A global shift towards a vegan
18:56Egan diet is becoming essential
19:01vector borne and infectious diseases.
19:03In May 2018, the CDC warned that we were
19:07in danger because we were not prepared
19:11for an upcoming surge of illnesses.
19:14Lyme, malaria, Dengue fever, West Nile,
19:19Chikungunya, Zika, all from the viruses,
19:23bacteria and protozoa passed on to
19:26us by vectors such as mosquitoes,
19:29ticks, fleas, flies, rats and mice.
19:33And now we know that the scariest
19:37scenario is waiting in the wings.
19:40Some 70% of emerging diseases in
19:44humans are zoonotic. That is,
19:47they have passed from animals to humans,
19:50with an estimated 1.7 million
19:53more we don't know about.
19:58Increasing contact with vectors
20:00has long been known as a possible
20:03risk that could trip a pandemic,
20:06population rise, expanding urbanization,
20:10industrial farming of animals,
20:13deforestation, and the illegal poaching
20:15and selling of wildlife for their parts.
20:18Trafficking is now at crisis levels
20:21and are causes of zoonotic illness.
20:25But so is disrupted climate
20:27because it carries unnatural and
20:31unhealthy changes to ecosystems,
20:33forcing disease carrying animals,
20:35including the vectors I cited,
20:37to try to find new places to live.
20:40And some of those places
20:42bring them closer to humans.
20:45I ask this disingenuously.
20:46Does anyone need to be reminded of the
20:50mental health impacts of the pandemic?
20:55Selected other indirect
20:56impacts of ecosystems,
20:58disrupted biodiversity loss,
21:02plants and animals?
21:05In the last 50 years,
21:07wild numbers have plummeted by nearly half.
21:12In our fight for the climate,
21:13it has been said that we
21:14should think of people,
21:15not polar bearers.
21:17A legitimate reminder that privileged
21:19groups overlook the environmental
21:22injustices affecting people in
21:24places where socio economic
21:26challenges and systemic racism
21:28impede the ability to be heard.
21:31But animals are central to our
21:33existence for many reasons,
21:35including supporting the intricate
21:38relationships of natural life
21:40critical to our survival.
21:43And regarding that relationship with animals,
21:46an error in translation,
21:48Hebrew scholars tell us that it
21:50isn't dominion over animals that was
21:53written in the ancient biblical text,
21:56but rather that we have a grave
22:00responsibility to protect them.
22:02Extinction rates are 1000
22:05times higher than base rate.
22:08It may be 30%,
22:09but up to 50% a species may be headed
22:13towards extinction by mid century.
22:16We risk profound personal and
22:19psychosocial damage as we stray
22:21from the ecosystems we were evolved
22:24to share with other species.
22:27Note that there is extinction,
22:29complete loss of species,
22:31and there is functional extinction,
22:33very important difference,
22:35which means that an ecosystem
22:38cannot thrive or even survive
22:40because individual numbers of
22:42species are too low to maintain
22:45the interdependent relationship
22:47essential to sustain it.
22:51Special populations at risk,
22:54the emotional toll on them.
22:57This slide is intentionally blanketed,
23:00at least momentarily.
23:01And those special populations,
23:03the elderly, sick, the disabled,
23:05the mentally ill, the poor,
23:08those living in the bullseye of disaster
23:11prone areas along coastlines and rivers,
23:14tornado alleys,
23:15inner cities with the heat island effect.
23:18First responders.
23:19But left out of the list typically
23:22are those especially vulnerable,
23:25who are often the climate
23:27experts and activists.
23:28The climate Cassandras,
23:30as I've dubbed them.
23:31Cassandra being the Greek mythologic
23:33figure who was cursed by Apollo to
23:37see the future of future harms,
23:39but never to have her warnings believed.
23:42In the grip of images of future disasters,
23:46climate Cassandras can't
23:48get them out of their minds.
23:50Desperately they're
23:52issuing anguished warnings.
23:54These climate Cassandras can suffer
23:56with a version of the classic PTSD which
24:00I have dubbed Pre Traumatic Stress.
24:03But most of all it is young
24:06people who are hurt.
24:08Our children are aware that the window
24:10of opportunity to stop the worst of
24:12the impacts of climate change is closing.
24:14In Australia.
24:15In the first published
24:17Climate Change Delusion,
24:18a depressed 17 year old boy was
24:21hospitalized for refusing to drink water.
24:23He believed it would bring deaths to
24:26millions in his drought ridden country.
24:29I talked to the doctor at Melbourne's
24:31Children's Hospital who treated him,
24:33who did not want me to use his
24:36name but said he has a whole clinic
24:39full of kids with climate anxiety.
24:42I am the expert witness,
24:43as was noted just a a few minutes
24:46ago on the psychological damages to
24:49youth plaintiffs in three cases,
24:52Juliana versus the US federal
24:54government held versus the state
24:56of Montana and in a few weeks
24:59Navahini versus Hawaii Department of
25:02Transportation held was won last summer.
25:06It was a landmark decision based on
25:08the violation of Montana Constitution.
25:14I am the co-author of a survey also on
25:17climate distress in 10,000 youth from
25:2010 countries that was published in The
25:23Lancet in December 2021 that shows 3/4 of
25:26young people are afraid for the future,
25:301/2 say it says effects their daily lives,
25:33nearly half say they feel doomed
25:37and 2/3 lay the responsibility
25:39firmly at the feet of policy makers.
25:43In a few weeks of survey of
25:46which I am also a co-author,
25:49will unpacked climate distress in
25:5216,000 US youth measured by state.
25:58Children are asking should I have a baby?
26:00In a questioning,
26:01in a question increasingly being asked.
26:04They're worried about climate chaos
26:06and the carbon costs of bringing
26:08another person into the world.
26:10Children experience adverse
26:12climate or childhood experiences.
26:14Aces have a lifelong risk of
26:17increased morbidity and mortality.
26:19The repeated exposure to climate traumas
26:23open young people up to these same homes.
26:27Then there is transgenerational
26:30epigenetic inheritance,
26:31which is carried by an on off gene
26:34segments of our DNA that code for
26:37stress and produce anxiety can be
26:39awakened by psychological trauma
26:41and that activated state passed on
26:44to our children and their children.
26:47And it is an additional component of
26:50the mounting psychosocial threat.
26:54Not everything that counts can be counted.
26:56There are downstream social
26:59dimensions of climate trauma,
27:01for it is the unkowit insidious,
27:03complex and unconscious psychological
27:06states driven by climate trauma
27:09not lending themselves to studies
27:11and precise numbers that are the
27:15most profoundly damaging and Dr.
27:17systemic emotional condition society will
27:20find difficult to treat and surmount.
27:24The emotional toll from climate
27:26trauma insinuates itself into
27:28every aspect of our lives,
27:30collectively affecting the national mood,
27:33shaping our culture in ways that
27:36drive our economy, our politics,
27:38the quality of life in our
27:41communities and families.
27:43It increasingly effects
27:45how we treat each other.
27:48Much of the violence in the world
27:50can be explained by unaddressed
27:53anxiety emanating from fears of
27:56impotence and vulnerability.
27:58Climate change evokes a
28:00profound sense of both
28:04threats to democracy.
28:05I'll be very brief here because the
28:09geopolitical consequences are extensive.
28:13In times of peril and scarcity,
28:15people become and often regress.
28:19Stressed people do not make good decisions.
28:22They may express their fears
28:24in many unhealthy ways,
28:25including by showing anger.
28:27A rise in authoritarian government
28:30can occur for many reasons,
28:32among them because people often
28:34turn to what they perceive as
28:37strong leaders to protect them from
28:39populations that are scapegoated.
28:41The same people may be willing to
28:44trade lawn cherished values with
28:48the promise of perceived security.
28:51Heaven help us from tyrants.
28:53The bullies, I used to say,
28:55could be unleashed,
28:57but now I have to say heaven.
29:01As a former psychological profile of
29:05world leaders intelligence agency,
29:08I fear for our democratic form of life.
29:14Part 2. Resistance and communication.
29:20Why in the world don't we throw
29:24ourselves into action? Well,
29:26what does individual psychology tell us?
29:29What does social psychology tell us?
29:31A lot. Here's why we deny
29:36for money. Oops, what happened there?
29:43That's not right.
29:49This is oops,
29:50I have we have a Mission Control.
29:54We have a problem.
29:55I will find out where here we are.
30:00Something got mixed up,
30:03but I will restore it.
30:07Play There we go.
30:11All right for money.
30:14Short term profits are put
30:16ahead of our health for power.
30:19Politicians craving power
30:20certainly come to mind,
30:22in particular to avoid losing
30:24face if you've said no before.
30:27The confirmation bias assures that it
30:29is much harder for us to change our
30:32minds because it means admitting we
30:34were wrong before feeling emasculated.
30:36Only girly men are afraid of the weather,
30:39right? For heaven's sake.
30:41And Mother Nature,
30:42No darn woman's gonna push them around.
30:46You may be ostracized.
30:47Membership in a group often requires
30:50not challenging tightly held beliefs.
30:53Losing a feeling of security,
30:55fearing the center cannot hold,
30:57as Yates said, that God could let or
30:59the world would simply fall apart,
31:02can make people feel that they
31:05will fall apart.
31:06They're deeper issues.
31:09Climate change is a veritable
31:11Pandora's bugs of dark thoughts.
31:13We are transient beings here,
31:15subject to the laws of physics
31:17in the grand scheme of things,
31:19impermanent, vulnerable.
31:20Not the masters of the universe.
31:23We would like to imagine as conditions
31:27worsen steadily, inexorably,
31:29evoking awful images of the future,
31:31including that civilization may not survive.
31:35The narrative of the climate Christ is
31:38a metaphor for our own insignificance,
31:41aging and death.
31:43We strive to get those thoughts
31:45out of our minds, so we deny,
31:48disavow,
31:48and defy the science that reminds us.
31:52By the way,
31:52I haven't the slightest shred of
31:54a doubt that we are all suffering
31:56from climate anxiety now.
31:57Whether we know it or not,
31:59whether we like it or not,
32:00whether we admit it or not,
32:03there's aggression.
32:04Failing to confront the climate
32:06crisis when we know how much
32:08future generations are going to
32:10suffer does have an explanation.
32:12It is aggression.
32:14Passive, active, conscious, unconscious.
32:16Boil out the qualifiers and
32:18aggression is still there.
32:20How do we explain it?
32:22Revenge.
32:22Is it the ultimate narcissistic
32:25blow to be dead when they are alive?
32:28My colleagues and I would have no
32:30trouble calling out this out in parents who,
32:33for example,
32:34would leave their entire estate in disarray,
32:36knowing their competitive children
32:38would have to pick up the pieces.
32:41I have, I believe,
32:43rightly described in action.
32:45And we can say more on this and
32:47you can fight with me on it.
32:48On climate as a form of child abuse.
32:52An organizer of a group that has
32:54sought endorsers to a declaration
32:56stating this recently reached out to me.
32:58Let me know if you want to be in
33:01touch with them or certainly argue
33:03with me now. Dependency issues.
33:04Waiting for the magic parent
33:07was a technology, some genius,
33:09an impressive leader to come
33:11up with solutions that,
33:13as in an old cowboy movie,
33:15gets there just in time.
33:17The Deus Ex mocking a scenario
33:19that is not on the horizon.
33:22And then there's entitlement.
33:24The well off members of society
33:26sometimes rail at financial entitlements
33:28given to those on the lower end
33:31of the socio economic totem pole.
33:33The entitlement that is
33:35the most unjust is the one
33:38rarely mentioned leading
33:40a high carbon lifestyle.
33:4310% of the world's richest emit 50%
33:46of the world's greenhouse gases.
33:50And there's a first cousin to
33:52entitlement intellectualization.
33:53Getting bogged down in the tendency
33:56to do research that takes up time
34:00and money but lacks practical value.
34:02Measuring or writing about issues
34:05that don't change outcomes,
34:07satisfying our intellectual curiosity
34:09or the wrong headed publish or
34:12perish standard of academia can
34:14stand in the way of taking action.
34:17My friend Ove Huff Goldberg,
34:20an expert on coral reefs in Australia,
34:23refers to this as rearranging the deck
34:26chairs on the Titanic to get a better view.
34:30What does social psychology tell
34:32us about inaction on climate?
34:34All right, well,
34:35there's first of all the bystander effect.
34:38In 1964 in New York City,
34:4128 year old Kitty Genovesi was stabbed
34:43to death just steps from her door.
34:46The report was that a crowd gathered
34:47but did nothing to stop the killer and
34:50didn't immediately call the police.
34:51Although this was later disputed,
34:54it launched serious soul searching.
34:56Had the anonymity of the city and
34:59society generally become so detached
35:02that we were becoming indifferent
35:04to other people's suffering?
35:06Darlie and Latane, 2 social psychologists,
35:09studied the question and in
35:121968 released their report,
35:13described as the and described
35:16the bystander effect.
35:19So when it comes to intervening in a crisis.
35:24Oops.
35:25They found that the larger the crowd,
35:29the less likely we are to act.
35:33Think of this with respect
35:35to the climate lens.
35:37What's the effect of the crowd?
35:39Well, diffusion of responsibility,
35:43influence of what people around
35:45you are doing.
35:46No one else is taking action,
35:48dependency issues,
35:49Surely somebody else will do it.
35:53And I've added anonymity,
35:55no one knows me here.
35:58Factors influencing action and contrast.
36:01And note this important two step process.
36:03First,
36:04the situation is perceived as
36:06an emergency and an identifiable
36:09action can be taken.
36:14More social impacts the
36:19tragedy or social psychology.
36:21The tragedy of the Commons is a
36:23social phenomenon first described
36:25by English economist William
36:27Foster Lloyd in the midnight 1800s,
36:29in which individuals using
36:31a shared common resource,
36:34in this case it was pasture for cattle,
36:36act independently only in
36:38their personal interests,
36:40contrary to the common good of all users,
36:44and by doing so end up,
36:46because of their collective action,
36:49using up or spoiling that resource.
36:53Thinking climate.
36:56Why have are are some of us reluctant
36:58to discuss climate change with
37:00friends When we are with people
37:02who want to deny or disconnect?
37:04Our words can mess up the mood.
37:07Our society rewards good moods,
37:09not climate Debbie Downers.
37:11I can shut down a dinner party
37:14in minutes and have.
37:16And there is an embargo in
37:18my family of even mentioning
37:19anything connected to weather.
37:21Not even isn't it a nice day,
37:24lest it trigger a riff.
37:26We climate Cassandra's know our
37:28legitimate fears can be interpreted
37:31as being in a persistent bad mood,
37:34a contagious one at that.
37:36And yes, it's not only climate
37:38that brings stress in life.
37:40We have other anxieties that
37:42can be conflated.
37:43But if you aren't upset,
37:46you aren't listening.
37:48All right,
37:49let's turn to some messaging that works.
37:51Influencing people Ethically actually
37:57identifies the seven different
37:59principles of persuasion as likability,
38:02reciprocity, scarcity, authority,
38:05commitment, consistency, and social.
38:08This is the one I've gone with.
38:12Look around and see others.
38:17We have learned that what we
38:19want to hear and what drives us,
38:22not just a template change in our behaviors,
38:25but lasting change, can be very different.
38:29You will see focus groups that say
38:32people don't want to hear bad news,
38:34hence the facile no doom
38:37and gloom prescription.
38:39Well, here's what we know.
38:41Risk perception.
38:42If you want someone to pay attention,
38:46a message that contains threats is effective
38:50because survival instinct kicks in.
38:53The more likely we are to
38:55imagine a dreadful loss,
38:57the more likely we are to take action,
39:00because taking action reduces our anxiety.
39:04How we respond to stress threats
39:07can define coping styles,
39:09and this is important.
39:11They also can count account for our
39:15politics even more than actual policy.
39:18This is one reason why we
39:20may disagree about mess.
39:22What messages best reach people
39:25and convince them to change?
39:28Here are two coping styles extremely
39:31useful to know when faced with threats.
39:34At one end of the spectrum,
39:36the cognitive avoiders.
39:38When you tell the I'm sorry,
39:41the vigilance,
39:42those who try to manage their anxiety
39:45by knowing every detail of the dangers.
39:49At the other end of the spectrum,
39:51the cognitive avoiders.
39:52When you tell the avoiders,
39:54they're putting themselves at great risk by
39:57not taking action on climate or as we saw,
40:00for example, with COVID.
40:01They attempt to manage their
40:04anxiety by denying or downplaying
40:07the validity of the message.
40:10But we don't have to choose between doom
40:13and gloom and sugar coating the reality.
40:16We can reach many people with A2 part
40:20message that incorporates both moods,
40:23one that funnels us from a bystander being
40:27a bystander into becoming an upstander.
40:33Step one, getting people's attention
40:35by describing the gravity of
40:38the problem in clear language
40:40and then pivoting to Step 2.
40:43Here's what we can do about it.
40:45Describing actions that offset
40:47the feeling of helplessness by
40:50igniting feelings of empowerment.
40:56Humans are highly suggestible creatures.
41:01Cialdini tells us that people
41:03self report that taking action,
41:06that they take action for the planet
41:08because in this order and listen carefully.
41:11It benefits society,
41:13it helps save the environment,
41:17it saves money and lasts because
41:20other people are doing it.
41:23Except that's not true.
41:27The order is just the opposite.
41:30It is because we see other
41:33people doing it last.
41:34Believe it or not,
41:36countless surveys and studies show
41:42this because it benefits society.
41:44We aren't the altruistic types that we
41:49may think we are as a whole in society.
41:53Now I have to say,
41:54my husband says that I have to try
41:56to be funny and I've encouraged
41:58him to try to find me something
42:00that's really funny about climate.
42:03But I did put this in because I
42:05thought it might be useful to us.
42:07So I would like to say in conclusion,
42:10and I may have to go back a bit because
42:15I may have put these out of order,
42:17but I want to note that I know
42:21many of you in the audience are
42:23experienced presenters and that
42:25you have had to leave out critical
42:27information you wanted to share.
42:29If you ever have me back and can stand it,
42:32I would specifically address more
42:34about building resilience and remedies
42:37that help restore us in our planet.
42:40But I will conclude today with an
42:44overview of what we can do right now.
42:48I call it.
42:49And this is where I have to get
42:51out of the way and get back to
42:54my previous place where I had.
42:59There we go.
43:03And that is what we can do. I think.
43:07As I say, I called the three PS,
43:10but it grew to the five PS.
43:12It can help us play to our
43:15strengths while recognizing the
43:17complexity of the challenges.
43:19I hope that on this last recommendation
43:22we may start something today.
43:24So personal
43:27coolcalifornia.gov.
43:28It's a calculator as it says,
43:30for individuals, households and business.
43:33Very user friendly native dot eco.
43:37When you will look at this calculator,
43:39you will see easy ways to make changes
43:41and you will be humbled that there are
43:43lots of things that are more difficult.
43:45And it will certainly offset
43:48our reservations about speaking
43:49openly about what we know.
43:52There's no room certainly to be
43:56a good advocate if you feel like
43:58a bit of a hypocrite.
44:00So go there and work out your own carbon
44:05emissions and offset what you can't
44:09reduce and professional be an organizer.
44:16I would like to suggest that Yale could work.
44:19I've also said this recently to Saint
44:22Elizabeth's Hospital where I did my training.
44:24It's my alma mater.
44:26There are so many things that we can
44:29do as mental health professionals,
44:31and among them, I threw some things
44:33down to call for a subspecialty
44:35fellowship in climate and mental health.
44:37And I can review some of I presented
44:41a position paper to the APA recently
44:45to indicate what sorts of things a
44:49subspecialty fellowship could provide.
44:51Reach out to policy makers.
44:53They're driving this thing.
44:55They're upstream.
44:56We have a group called the
44:58Outreach and Advocacy Group,
44:59which is a joint project of the
45:01Climate Psychiatry Alliance,
45:02which you've heard about,
45:03and another group that I Co founded,
45:05the Climate Psychology Alliance.
45:07And also there is,
45:10there are so many opportunities to write.
45:15The Eco Cyclopedia is something
45:17that we have launched.
45:19I mentioned climate in your mind.
45:20It's coming out soon.
45:22These are online resources.
45:24We need your knowledge,
45:26we need your writing.
45:28These will be places where you can see
45:31your work and others can access it.
45:34It's free.
45:36And then there's political support,
45:39candidates who make climate the priority.
45:41Run for office yourself and public.
45:46Make sure everyone knows the
45:48climate actions you take.
45:51Don't forget the power of those social norms.
45:54They can take us from climate tipping
45:58points to social tipping points.
46:01And last of all, protest, as the
46:06late great Congressman John Lewis said,
46:09when you see something that is not right,
46:12that is not fair,
46:14not just say something, do something.
46:18Get in trouble, good trouble,
46:22necessary trouble,
46:25and I'll leave you with just one thought.
46:29Enough solar energy reaches
46:32Earth every hour to meet all the
46:36Earth's energy needs for a year.
46:39Wind provides 40 times what we need.
46:43We can change the world,
46:46but we have to be together.
46:48We have to be smart,
46:50and we have to hurry.
46:54Thank you.