The Sustaining All Life organisation held a psychological workshop for climate change victims on the sidelines of the recently ended COP27 climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
With the help of female interpreters, women from different countries gathered in a circle to talk about the traumas they had experienced from climate change.
The Sustaining All Life workshop tries to provide victims with psychological support.. The organisation was established in 2014 as a not-for-profit project concerned with trying to provide justice and support after climate emergencies. It is affiliated with Re-evaluation Consulting, a foundation that gives psychological support to victims of global warming.
Addressing Climate Shocks
Dr. Barbara Love, the Foundation’s official and session moderator, told the workshop about the relationship between psychological crises and climate change. She asked the participants to recount the painful experiences climate change had caused, and the stories poured in from different countries.
“When you are forced to leave your country of origin because of drought or finding little food, this is a climatic shock.When your farmland is ruined by extreme weather, your house collapses, you lose your livelihood, or you were forced to take on new tasks, these are all climate change shocks,”she said.
“Maybe we do not have the power to take a political decision to protect all these people from climate disasters.We do not know what the future holds for us, but we can, at least, provide psychological assistance to some of the victims to overcome these climate shocks, so they can continue their lives,”
Barbara Love, the Foundation’s official and session moderator
The Massachusetts-based climate activist said she was aware that people in other regions of the world were more affected by climate change disasters but everyone was affected by climate change because of the impact of the destruction of crops , enforced changes of lifestyle, rainfall irregularities, the intensification of dry seasons and subsequent socio-economic disasters like climate migration – all calamities that created severe psychological trauma.
Dr. Love mentioned the recent destructive hurricane that hit Puerto Rico when it was still recovering from a previous hurricane.
“Maybe we do not have the power to take a political decision to protect all these people from climate disasters.We do not know what the future holds for us, but we can, at least, provide psychological assistance to some of the victims to overcome these climate shocks, so they can continue their lives,”she said.
Mutual Listening and Sharing Stories
Malinali Castañeda Romero, a Sustaining All Life organisation official , said the idea of the workshop was to help those experiencing psychological pain because of climate disasters.. She said her organisation did not only help women but they were often the most affected psychologically by these disasters. “That’s because they are more emotional and fragile, and so the most eager to participate in the foundation’s psychological support workshops.”
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The workshops employ mechanisms like double listening, where participants are allocated a specific time to exchange stories. There are confidentiality conditions , nothing revealed during the sessions can be published, and respect – no participant is allowed to diminish the importance of another participant’s psychological pain.
Climate change poses serious risks to mental health and well-being according to a recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. It said climate change had caused emotional distress, anxiety, depression, grief, and suicidal behaviour.
“We encourage attendees to share whatever is on their minds without shame.The interaction between participants helps them understand climate shocks, reconnect the painful events in their lives with climate change, and redefine these experiences. This can help them come to terms with this pain and try to recover,
Romero added that the stories revealed that because of climate change, people were losing their homes, lands, and memories. “Family members die, they feel grief, and they live with traumas that affect them for life. The workshop gathered women whose lives have been affected by climate change, because they are the ones responsible in many societies, for family care, fetching water and food, and earning money during droughts and floods that destroy homes and livelihoods.
Romero said that in her own country, Mexico, women could face death in their homes from hurricanes before they have a chance to go to a shelter, while their menfolk were working out of town.
Climate Change as a Psychological Threat
Climate change poses serious risks to mental health and well-being according to a recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. It said climate change had caused emotional distress, anxiety, depression, grief, and suicidal behaviour.
In June, the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for climate change to be a factor in mental health programmes. It said countries which had set a good example were the Philippines, which had rebuilt and improved its mental health services after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, and India, which had prepared cities to respond to climate risks and addressed mental health and psychosocial needs at the same time.
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