Doctors for the Environment Australia have released a report into the mental health impacts of climate change this week for #mentalhealthweek2021.
It highlights some of the very significant impacts and the ways in which we can respond. This issue affects us all and is not just something for individuals or clinicians to deal with. Health systems, communities and government all have a critical role to play. You can access the report here: https://www.dea.org.au/report-how-climate-change-affects…/
The Key Points are:
- Climate change has serious and wide-reaching impacts on the mental health of Australians today.
- Climate change is or will impact all communities, with young people and indigenous communities among those affected first and worst.
- Increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events such as we are already seeing in Australia have compound mental health impacts, the full social and economic impacts of which are only beginning to be understood.
- Suicide is the leading cause of death in young Australians and the relationship between rising self harm and suicide with heat in NSW needs urgent and serious consideration.
- The majority of Australians are very concerned about climate change and this is a rational response to current realities.
- Urgent government action to limit warming to 1.5 degrees will have substantial mental health benefits.
- Health systems need to be supported by policy and planning to adapt to increasing climate related demand.
