The impact of climate change for people with mental illness was part of the testimony the Bush administration redacted from the Dr. Julie Gerberding’s prepared remarks at last week’s hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Gerberding is director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Refuting accusations circulating widely that redacting seven of 12 pages was actually censorship, Dr. John Marburger, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy,said Gerberding’s testimony had "an overall lack of precision" about "the specific nature of some climate change impacts on human health." Specifically citing mental illness, he wrote:
The testimony says "some Americans may suffer anxiety, depression, and similar symptoms in anticipating climate change and/or in coping with its effects." The IPCC report focuses on mental health issues in the context of post-disaster effects, not in anticipating them as the testimony suggests.
But Gerberding did more than anticipate. She explicitly called attention to trauma and PTSD in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Marburger also took issue with the connection between hurricane frequency and climate change, and the impact of climate change on access to food.
