Portland metro report finds climate change impacts on mental health - KOIN.com

Portland, OR metro area report sheds light on climate change impacts to mental health

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN) – A new report from Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas counties found that extreme weather has been negatively impacting Oregonian’s mental health.

According to the Regional Climate and Health Monitoring Report, during extreme weather, there has been a lack of mental health providers and services. Additionally, anxiety over record wildfires and prolonged heatwaves put a strain on the community’s mental health.

To track mental health impacts of climate change, researchers interviewed emergency and community responders who were working during the wildfires of 2020 and the heat dome in 2021.

“The most prominent themes identified during these interviews was a lack of mental health providers and services. Responders said that extreme weather events compounded trauma from the COVID-19 pandemic, historic inequities and systemic racism,” the report stated.

Washington County Crisis Team Program Director Rich Roell, says the tri-county area already lacked mental health care access due to the pandemic, which added to mental health strain of some community members during extreme heat.

“Before these weather events, we were already having challenges with access to mental health services due to the pandemic,” Roell said. “Vulnerable people then also had to postpone getting the mental health help they needed to find air conditioning, cooling spaces and a way to escape from wildfire smoke.”

Climate-related health impacts are more severe among older adults; children, people experiencing houselessness; communities of color; communities isolated from backup water and power systems; people who work outdoors and people without access to emergency communications systems, the report said.

The counties added that these communities are less likely to have air conditioning and other resources to stay cool during a heat wave. The tri-county area saw 13 days of over 90-degree temperatures in 2016, which more than doubled by 2022 with 29 days with 90-degree temps.

During the heat dome in 2021 — during which temperatures reach 116 degrees — 94 people died, compared to a typical year where the region would expect one heat-related death, the report said.

Additionally, the report says emergency department visits more than doubled in 2021 compared to the average number of visits from 2016-2019.

In addition to studying health impacts from heat-related illness, the report says there needs to be a better understanding of cold-related illnesses, noting that since 2014, 84 people have died due to exposure of extreme cold.

The report also raised concerns for air quality, saying more people visited the emergency department for air quality-related illness (including pollen allergies) than other health indicators.

Mental health

According to the report, short events that last a few hours such as heat waves, extreme storms and wildfires can lead to anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep deprivation.

“If an event creates property damage, causes displacement, or affects economic livelihood of a group it can lead to a sense of loss of place, loss of control, and loss of personal or occupational identity,” the report says.

Longer periods of climate change events such as drought, can add stress to mental and emotional wellbeing. These events can also disrupt access to physical and mental health care services, school and asocial networks, which the report says, can help maintain good mental health, officials said.

The report also says indirect experience with climate change can impact mental health and cause eco-anxiety or severe worry about the future of the planet.

Recommendations

When dealing with climate change-related events in the future, the report recommends county officials develop climate mitigation plans, continue to monitor health outcomes and secure climate and health mitigation funding.