Experts to Give Update on Climate Change

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As extreme heat grips the world, psychiatrists will need to understand more about the thermoregulatory system to protect their patients from heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Climate change and the thermoregulatory system have been important topics of discussion in Psychiatric Times™, which has recently addressed wildfires, the impact of climate change on indigenous people, and what the psychiatric field can do to help.

To provide an update on climate change and the thermoregulatory system, Elizabeth Haase, MD, Psychiatric Times™ Climate Change section editor and American Psychiatric Association (APA) Committee on Climate and Mental Health chair, and her fellow committee member and colleague Jacob Lee, MD, invite you to their webinar, “Heat Waves and Wildfires for the Practicing Psychiatrist: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Patients and Community.”

In the webinar, Haase and Lee will review thermoregulation, how it is impaired in patients with mental illness or on psychiatric medications, and how psychiatrists can advise patients to promote acclimatization to high temperature and protect them from extreme heat effects. They will also touch briefly on the wildfires that often accompany extreme heat and their compounding effects on brain health and community wellness, and provide materials to educate patients about heat effects developed by Robin Cooper, MD, and the Climate Psychiatry Alliance. The webinar will take place on Thursday, August 3 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Look for continued coverage of issues related to climate change and what clinicians need to know in future issues of Psychiatric Times™.