Event - Climate change and mental health webinar
On 30 October 2024, CareIf Trustee, Professor Afzal Javed, in collaboration with the University of Thessaloniki, co-organised a webinar examining the intersections between climate change and mental health. This well-attended event, which brought together over 300 online participants from diverse backgrounds and was chaired by the co-founder of CareIf, Dr Albert Persaud, who underlined the broader commitments to advancing global discourse on emerging international challenges in mental health.
During the webinar, Mr Alexander Smith - a researcher at the Department of Forensic Psychiatry in the University of Bern - introduced the burgeoning subdiscipline of geopsychiatry. This field investigates the causal chains between distal geopolitical factors and their influence on local mental health outcomes.
Alexander’s presentation highlighted pressing issues such as migration, conflict, and the escalating impact of climate change in a volatile global landscape. Geopsychiatry provides valuable insights into how global dynamics shape mental health at the individual and community levels, offering an innovative framework for understanding and addressing these challenges.
Following this, a Patron of CareIf, Professor Dinesh Bhugra, delivered a compelling talk on the political determinants of mental health, including commercial determinants and the pivotal role of policymaking for shaping mental health outcomes. Again focussing on perspectives from geopsychiatry, his presentation emphasised the necessity of holistic approaches to effectively respond to the mental health consequences of modern crises.
As demonstrated by the subsequent question and answer session, the webinar offered a platform for knowledge exchanges in how to explore the topics of mental health, climate change, and geopolitical instabilities.
