Steven Goldfinger, Ph.D. Principal, EcoMind

Fifth Conference on Integrative Psychiatry “Interconnectedness“ 20 April, 2012 Groningen, Netherlands

A form of suicide, in which an individual or a population destroys the biophysical substrate on which its life and well-being depend.

Do you believe this is a serious risk? If so, does it impact the way you currently live

your life?

1) Are we really at risk of ecocide? ▪ What is the current ecological disorder? ▪ How bad/urgent is the problem? ▪ Do we know what to do about it?

2) If we know, why are we behaving in ways that increase

rather than reduce the problem—is there an underlying psychological disorder?

3) What role should psychiatry play in addressing this disorder?

2 Hiroshima bombs a second, since 1961.

Would boil Sydney Harbour dry every 12 hours—twice a day for the last 50 years.

Past: localized, pre-industrial economy

Present: globalized, industrial economy

• Climate change • Ocean acidification • Plastic floating islands

(food chain) • Endocrine disruptors • Pharmaceuticals in

water supply • Antibiotic-resistant

“superbugs” • Acid rain • Heavy metal poisoning-

-mercury, cadmium, lead

• Persistent organic compounds—DDT, PCB, dioxin

• Changing precipitation patterns

• Fisheries collapses • Peak oil • Collapse of global

supply chains • Population migration --

environmental refugees • Flooding • Drought • Freshwater shortages • Heat waves • Ozone holes • Coral reef bleaching • Topsoil erosion • Dustbowls • More violent storms • Resource wars • Vector-borne diseases • Sea level rise

• Storm surges • Fisheries collapse • Biodiversity loss • Declining forests • Loss of pollinators • Forest fires • Peat fires • Salt intrusion in aquifers • Aquifer depletion • Melting permafrost • Glacier recession • Crop failures • Nitrogen cycle

disrupted • Ocean currents slowing • Respiratory illnesses

West Antarctic ice sheet collapses

Ocean circulation patterns rapidly shift Northern peatlands (bogs, moors) dry and burn

Amazon burns, becomes a carbon source instead of sink

Permafrost melts — self-reinforcing feedback loop

From 1000 environmental problems…

→ 3 errors in our relationship with nature

+ + + +

Resources Waste

Consumption

Regeneration

Resources Waste

Fossil Fuels

1. Eliminate the progressive buildup of substances extracted from the Earth's crust (for example, heavy metals and fossil fuels).

2. Eliminate the progressive buildup of chemicals and compounds produced by society (for example, dioxins, PCBs, DDT, endocrine disruptors ).

3. Eliminate the progressive physical degradation and destruction of nature and natural processes (for example, over harvesting forests and paving over critical wildlife habitat).

…Avoid turning resources into junk faster than nature can turn junk back into resources!

"Continuing on our current course would be suicidal for global civilization… Here is the core of it:

We are destroying the climate balance that is essential to the survival of our civilization. This is not a distant or abstract threat; it is happening now.”

Al Gore, June, 2011

“In the twenty-first century, supplies are running short and the global thermostat is running high. Climate change is also showing us that the old model is more than obsolete... The world's current economic model is an environmental global suicide pact that will result in disaster if it isn't reformed.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 2011

We clearly understand how critical the situation is, we know what needs to be done, yet we fail to act.

Even worse, we continue to behave in ways that accelerate rather than ameliorate the problem.

+ +

= =

Adaptive Behavior

Maladaptive Behavior

+ = Self-DestructiveBehavior

If we know, why do we fail to act? What are the psychological obstacles keeping us

on an unsustainable path?

Current behavior too rewarding inability to delay gratification, even to avert future catastrophe

Difficulty perceiving global, long-term trends Instincts—e.g., gathering & hoarding—that are no longer adaptive Habituation search for novelty, driving overconsumption Brain reward system for selfish behavior more powerful, more

dominant than for altruistic behavior (innate vs. learned?) Habits—efficient, but can interfere with change Limited mathematical capacity e.g., failure to understand

compound growth Individuals behave differently in groups/organizations; latter preserve

identity by resisting change Dominance hierarchy—individual and groups reaping the rewards

resist change in the status quo Situation so distressing denial, depression, learned helplessness Illusion of separateness—what is “not me” doesn’t impact me

?

Accurate perception/acceptance of reality Eliminate delusion that all is OK, no urgency Dispel illusion of separateness from nature

Shift from pathological to adaptive behavior

Emotional resilience as conditions worsen Prevent paralyzing fear, anger, depression,

helplessless, etc. from interfering with effective adaptation

1. If ecocide is self-destructive behavior, is this a form of pathology that psychiatry must address, and if so, how?

2. Is dispelling the illusion of separateness key to acting in alignment with nature, and if so, does integrative psychiatry, with connectedness as one of its central tenets, have a special role to play?

3. Can behavior be shifted quickly enough, and on a large enough scale, to get us off our current destructive path?

4. What practical steps can the psychiatric community take, and with whom should it form partnerships, to help facilitate the societal shift necessary if we are to avoid ecocide?

A human being is part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

Albert Einstein

“The ancients saw no division between themselves and the natural world. They understood how to live in harmony with the world around them. It is time to recover that sense of living harmoniously for our economies and our societies.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

If you are not going to intervene, who will?