AFTER HOURS: A Webinar Series About Climate and Health

Session 5: Mental Health in a Time of Climate Crisis

The psychological impacts of the planetary health crisis are immense. Eco-anxiety and climate grief are increasingly common problems in our rapidly changing world.

Many of us have now have been personally effected by extreme weather, fires, heatwaves, pollution etc and cannot help but feel distress, sadness and anger as we watch the climate crisis deepen.

Health care practitioners see the mental health effects of climate change in our professional lives and we need to be able to support our patients as they grapple with these emotions, while also supporting our own psychological health needs.

Presented by Dr Grant Blashki, this webinar will look at the psychological impacts of the climate crisis and provide guidance in their management.

Dr Grant Blashki is a practicing GP, the Lead Clinical Advisor for Beyond Blue, Associate Professor at the Nossal Institute for Global Health, and the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute both at the University of Melbourne, Adjunct at Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Writer in Residence at Future Leaders books, Health Ambassador for the Lord Mayors Charitable Foundation, and Honorary Professor at Shenzhen Luohu Hospital Group in China. His three themes of research are 1) Mental Health 2) Environmental Health and 3) Global Health. He has co-authored over 125 peer reviewed publications and 8 books. He was one of the co- founding members of DEA.

After his presentation Dr Blashki will be joined by Dr Anna Seth for our panel discussion.

This is an accredited activity with the RACGP and ACCRM.

Cover image: Tracey Nearmy / Reuters