As many parts of CA are burning, I heard this very good article today looking at the impacts to those that lost their homes in Sonoma County last year. To listen to the full report: https://www.kqed.org/news/11684836/the-lasting-trauma-of-the-north-bay-fires
Science Matt Simon 8.02.18 FOR THE INUIT of Labrador in Canada, climate disaster has already arrived. These indigenous people form an intense bond with their land, hunting for food and fur. “People like to go out on the land to feel good,” says Noah Nochasak in the documentary Lament for the Land . “If they can’t go out on the land, travel a long ways to feel good, they don’t feel like people.” The Inuit’s lands, though, are warming twice as fast as the global average, imperiling the ice...
This article underscores how, left unaddressed, climate change can quickly become a psychosocial malady and why we must think in much broader terms than merely mental health (psychological) problems. Traumatized and fearful people often retreat into a self-protective survival mode that leads them to believe/support authoritarians who say they can fix the problem. Bob Doppelt Climate Kings: How a new generation of authoritarian leaders are using climate change to seize power By Samuel Miller...
The Dailey Climate by Kristina Marusic Jul y27, 2018 Stress and depression are higher among those living closest to more and bigger wells. People who live near unconventional natural gas operations such as fracking are more likely to experience depression, according to a new study. For the study, which is the first of its kind and published today in Scientific Reports, researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and Johns Hopkins University looked at rates of depression in...
Here is an article from CNN on the study about rising suicides resulting from climate change, with comments from Mona Sarfaty, director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, and Robin Cooper, one of the founding members of Climate Psychiatry Alliance https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/23/health/climate-change-suicide-rates-study-intl-wxc/index.html
"Exposure to a traumatic event or set of circumstances can negatively affect a person’s mental, physical, social, emotional or spiritual well-being for a long time after the initial incident. We know that not all individuals respond to trauma in the same way and we know that individuals with a history of trauma, especially childhood trauma, are more likely to experience psychological distress and are at increased risk for the development of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with future...
From: The Daily Climate Heather Mongilio Jul 11, 2018 "It's really shocking that we found such a significant effect on a population that is usually considered immune to these heat A new study out of Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that high temperatures are linked to cognitive impairments, even in resilient populations. Researchers at the university followed 44 college students who were living in dorms at a college in the greater Massachusetts area. Half of the students had...
By @Anndee Hochman During a December 2017 convening in Philadelphia, several leaders from Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) realized they had more in common than a passion for building resilience in their communities. They all hailed from places that had recently been scorched or flooded by natural disasters: wildfires in California and the Columbia River Gorge, hurricanes in Florida, the lingering residue of 2012’s post-tropical cyclone Sandy in the Northeast.
Consultant Robert K. Macy, Hanna Institute Assistant Director Nick Dalton, and Hanna Institute Interim Director Brian Farragher inside Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma, CA. ______________________ After the October fires, the Community Foundation of Sonoma County co-sponsored a survey of local nonprofit organizations to gauge the effect that the disaster had on the people they serve and their organizational capacity to provide services in response. Throughout the “2018 Wildfire Response Survey,”...
Please find four power points for your consideration and use on the introduction to transformational resilience, building a culture of transformational resilience within communities, groups & organizations, and an introduction to the resilient growth model. Please click on these links below. These resources are also available in the resources library. Introduction to Transformational Resilience Building a Culture of Transformational Resilience in Communities Building a Culture of...
The traumatic events of the North Bay wildfires affect our emotional and physical health, social functioning, and overall well-being, both as individuals and as a community. Unresolved, they can damage our health and limit our potential to rebuild a strong community. Join diverse Sonoma County leaders and representatives to participate in dynamic workshop where you will practice tools for effectively addressing personal and team stress after the fires, network with peers, and learn about an...
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 1, 2018 – New York Life Insurance Company and the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities today announced the launch of a new grant program to support children, adults, families, and communities experiencing trauma resulting from natural disaster or community-wide tragedy. The partnership will serve as the first-ever disaster-focused grant for the New York Life Foundation, the charitable arm of the company. The program, Building Resilience in the Face of Disaster,...
At the end of 2017, Community Foundation of Sonoma County and Napa Valley Community Foundation enlisted the Center for Effective Philanthropy to conduct a survey of local nonprofit organizations about the impacts of the wildfires on the people they serve and on their organizational capacity to provide services in response. While reading CEP Advisory Services " 2018 Wildfire Response Survey " report through an ACEs and trauma-informed lens, the following findings jumped out at me: 1. Mental...
ITRC Steering Committee Member Natasha DeJarnett, Policy Analyst , Environmental Health at APHA, offered these updates and resources on activities she and APHA are engaged in: · Citizen’s Climate Lobby Podcast episode on climate change and mental wellness featuring ITRC Steering Committee member Dr. Lise Van Susteren and Dr. Natasha DeJarnett: https://soundcloud.com/ citizensclimateradio/ep-23- mental-wellness-and-climate- change · APHA released the new report Adaptation in Action Part II...
After a recent ITRC Steering committee meeting, member Dr. David Pollack sent the following resources ITRC members might be interested in: Climate Psychiatry Alliance (CPA) website, recently launched and which will hopefully be updated regularly with lots of useful information about climate and mental health issues, including the slide presentations we have been putting on at various meetings, brief summaries of key issues, etc. www.climatepsychiatry. org Medical Society Consortium on...