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RESEARCH WEEKLY: Climate Change and Serious Mental Illness
By Elizabeth Sinclair Hancq
(March 22, 2023) Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns on our planet, either naturally occurring or from unnatural causes. In many parts of the world, climate change has resulted in more extreme weather and hotter-than-average temperatures.
In early summer 2021, Vancouver, British Columbia experienced an unprecedented heat dome where temperatures reached more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit in a region that rarely sees that high of temperatures and where most homes do not have air conditioning. This was the deadliest extreme weather event in Canada’s history and more than 600 people died.
In an analysis of the individuals that died heat-related deaths during this period, the Government of British Columbia found that individuals with severe mental illness were especially at risk. In fact, people with schizophrenia had more than four times higher risk of dying during the heat dome. People with other types of serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders were also at risk, according to the BC government’s analysis of the death records.
Comparing heat dome to typical weather deaths
To better understand the health conditions that might put people more at risk of dying during extreme heat events, researchers compared the health records of individuals that died during the heat dome to those that died during previous summers with more typical weather. This case control analysis included 678 people who died during the heat dome and almost 25,000 people who had died in previous summers.
While statistically controlling for factors such as age, socioeconomic status and others, the researchers examined the odds of dying during the heat dome compared to previous summers for people with various health conditions. The conditions that put people at highest risk for death during the extreme heat event include:
- Schizophrenia: 4.67 times higher risk
- Substance use: 1.54 times higher risk
- Depression: 1.54 times higher risk
- Mood/anxiety disorders: 1.39 times higher risk
Why are people with serious mental illness disproportionately impacted by climate change?
The fact that people with serious mental illness had one of the highest risks for death during the heat dome in British Columbia is in line with other emerging themes of the analysis: social deprivation and isolation were significant contributing risk factors to heat-related deaths. For example, the vast majority of the deaths of individuals during the heat dome occurred inside and in homes that did not have air conditioning. Protective factors include being in some type of long-term care where there are others checking in on your well-being, as well as greenspace. In fact, with every 5% increase in tree cover, there was a 9% decrease in risk of dying during the heat dome, according to the results.
Because extreme heat events are predicted to continue, the BC government is working to prepare residents for these types of events and to reduce the disproportional risk on people with serious mental illness. Preparations include working with the local weather stations to educate the public about extreme heat events and their dangers and partnering with local community organizations to reach individuals most at risk.
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