Impacts of Diminishing Resources

Definitions

• Climate change refers to any major change in temperature, wind patterns, precipitation, and other climate factors that lasts for a long time.
• Global warming means an ongoing rise in the average temperature worldwide. Although it is only one of the things that can cause climate change, it deserves special attention because residents of Alaska’s rural communities are experiencing the effects of climate change as a result of global warming.
• Subsistence is a critical way that Alaska Natives connect with and care for the earth, each other, and themselves. It is defined by federal law as “the customary and traditional uses by rural Alaska residents of wild, renewable resources for direct personal or family consumption as food, shelter, fuel, clothing, tools or transportation; for the making and selling of handicraft articles out of inedible by-products of fish and wildlife resources taken for personal or family consumption; and for the customary trade, barter or sharing for personal or family consumption.”
• Overfishing and over-hunting happen when so many of a type of fish or animal are taken from the population that the species cannot keep up. When areas have been overfished or over-hunted, it is common for the government to place restrictions on the fishing or hunting activity to try to encourage population growth of the at-risk species.

While “climate change” can refer to any major, long-term change in climate, a particular concern is the impact of global warming.

Global warming is impacted by both global and local trends. While some variation in temperatures is normal, scientists understand that human behaviors, especially the excessive use of fossil fuels (e.g., oil, coal, natural gas), have caused an unusual increase in global temperatures. This increase has already had significant effects in Alaska, such as melting permafrost, sea ice, and glaciers, increasing flooding, eroding coastal areas, and changing the habitats of native species.

Understanding the basics of climate change and how it affects the availability of or access to resources in Alaska can help you best support your clients and community. While climate change and global warming affect us all, Alaska Native residents, in particular, can experience mental health problems due to these factors’ effects on their subsistence resources and environments.

As a BHA/P, you may work with people who are struggling due to climate changes and diminishing resources. For example, some may come to you struggling with the results of extreme weather and natural disasters, which can threaten their sense of security or even their physical safety. They may face problems such as:

• More intense spring breakup seasons.
• More severe flooding events and erosion of shorelines.
• Reducing permafrost.
• An inability to harvest much-needed subsistence foods for their immediate and extended families.
• A higher risk of forest fires, which destroy homes and heat sources, due to reduced precipitation in the form of snowpack.

When a person, family, or community has engaged in subsistence activities for thousands of years as a way to protect and provide for their families, those activities are an integral part of their values, culture, and traditions. Being suddenly unable to engage in those core activities threatens their identity, which creates feelings of anxiety, stress, anger, helplessness, and hopelessness.

Your clients and community could experience a wide range of impacts from climate change and other causes of diminishing resources. Most projected impacts are negative, while a few could be positive. Keep in mind that people’s responses to any of the following will vary widely based on their available resources, skills, and stress levels.

1. A decreased ability to live a subsistence lifestyle. Subsistence provides many health, social, cultural, and economic benefits to people and families. It can relieve stress, strengthen family unity, and reinforce family values. It is also deeply rooted in Alaskan cultures, and historical trauma related to threats to subsistence lifestyles may compound the effects of current changes.
2. An increased ability to grow crops. In some areas, a longer and warmer growing season may mean new food opportunities.
3. More restrictions on subsistence fishing and hunting; these restrictions are often a response to areas where too many of a species are removed (i.e., overfishing or over-hunting) or having too few of a species survive and reproduce in changing conditions.
4. Unexpected food shortages or price increases; food transported from outside Alaska has its own set of vulnerabilities due to the costs and risks of long-distance transportation.
5. Increasingly serious environmental issues, such as road dust, damaged roadways and landing strips, shifting lake sizes, dying plants, and changing migration patterns.
6. Changes in the weather that influence travel and subsistence activities. For example, rain may increase during the summer months. Also, traditional and critical methods of transportation, such as traveling on ice roads, may become less reliable or unavailable. These changes can throw off subsistence cycles and cultural practices that depend on traditionally anticipated weather conditions. This can make it harder to practice traditional approaches to harvesting and preserving food.
7. Injuries or losses due to hunting and gathering in a changing environment. For example, people who cannot find food in safe areas may venture onto thinner ice than they used to.
8. Reduced access to clean water and increased exposure to diseases and pollution. Climate change can threaten water sources, lead to saltwater intrusion, cause sewage contamination, and thaw soils containing pollutants.
9. Increased severity, impact, and frequency of natural disasters, such as wildfires and flooding.
10. Impacts on economics for those working in jobs closely tied to the environment, such as commercial fishing or aviation, and for families who have to purchase food to replace what they can no longer obtain through subsistence or keep due to changes in temperature and permafrost.
11. Changes in animal behaviors and migration patterns due to changing plant life and thinning ice. For example, polar bears rely on ice to move from one location to another and to hunt for food, while changing winter weather can cause brown and black bears to hibernate poorly and visit towns looking for food.
12. A need to relocate homes or even whole communities.

As a BHA/P, you may see an impact on mental health in your community as a result of these factors because of the important relationship between the environment and personal and communal wellbeing.

Stress, anxiety, depression, and a loss of community identity are likely mental health impacts of climate change. Community members may be at greater risk for post-traumatic stress in the wake of natural disasters, as well as feelings of loss and helplessness. People who have experienced climate-related natural disasters may develop anxiety spectrum disorders, such as adjustment disorder. Anyone who has experienced losses (of home, community, occupation, way of life, or loved ones) due to climate change will also experience grief.

If your client shows signs of suicidal ideation, see Chapter D-6: Suicidal Thoughts and Plans.

Criminal activity can increase due to climate change and diminishing resources. For example, communities facing relocation may have more frequent incidents of burglary, arson, and substance abuse. There may also be more interpersonal and community-wide conflict due to the combination of environmental changes, inadequate resources, and high stress.

Additionally, rising temperatures in other areas around the globe have been associated with mental and behavioral disorders and an increase in suicides. Alaska’s communities facing global warming and reduced resources will likely see similar effects.

Some communities in Alaska are or will be considered for relocation as the effects of global warming increase. Relocation, especially forced relocation, is associated with a greater degree of all of the mental health impacts discussed here.

If you are a BHA/P in a community that is considering, planning for, or undergoing relocation, expect and prepare for significant stress on your community and on yourself. Everything from the planning process to the act of moving will create a greater demand for mental health services. In addition, you may need to work in temporary or nontraditional spaces. Make self-care a daily priority and communicate frequently with your supervisor and support network about your experience of what is happening in your community.

In a community experiencing the effects of a changing climate and diminishing resources, residents will have both individual and communal responses. Some factors that influence how people respond are vulnerability, adaptive capacity, and resiliency.

Vulnerability

• A community or individual can be vulnerable due to a range of factors. Typical vulnerable groups include those who are pregnant, single heads of household, children, and elders. People can also be vulnerable due to other factors, such as existing struggles with subsistence, high poverty rates, unemployment, chronic illness, chronic behavioral health issues, or disabilities.
• The more factors of vulnerability a person has, the more that person will be vulnerable to the effects of climate change and a lack of resources. It is important to identify individuals in your community who may be particularly vulnerable and need extra support in the event of a natural disaster so that you will be prepared to provide the support they need.

Adaptive capacity

• The concept of adaptive capacity refers to how flexible a person, family, or community can be in response to whatever life throws at them, including diminishing resources. You can help clients to deal with the impacts of diminishing resources by helping them to increase their adaptive capacity. See Chapter D-19: Transitions of Life, Family, and Community.

Resiliency and Protective Factors

• Resiliency is a community, family, or person’s ability to bounce back from an unexpected event. It includes learning from experiences, applying that knowledge to future experiences, and building in redundancy. People who have high resiliency are better able to maintain a positive outlook and to remain focused, flexible, and creative as they solve problems.

• The BHA/P can help clients develop resiliency by working with them to brainstorm several possible responses to challenges, identify their strengths and skills, increase protective factors, and affirm their ability to bounce back from crises. Help your clients identify new skills to learn and new ways to frame their experiences. Work with your client to identify resources. Challenging your clients to experiment and try new healthy activities can also help them build resiliency.

Humans have been adapting to their environment since the beginning of history. Historical knowledge about how Alaska Native communities have related to the environment can be a powerful tool to address the serious and pressing issues of environmental changes. Frame these changes as opportunities to come together and plan for a potential response, rather than waiting for its inevitable impacts, and help clients connect with the natural resiliency of their culture. Doing so can help those affected by climate change to move towards a strength-based approach, focusing on strengthening personal, family, and community responses.

For example, a community could embrace the opportunity that a warmer climate presents for developing community or personal gardens. In some areas, residents could see an increase in income from fighting wildfires. New migration patterns could bring new food sources closer to certain communities. In addition, working together to prepare for or combat the effects of climate change and diminishing resources can bring your community together and positively impact the wellbeing of those participating in joint efforts.

Behavioral Health Approaches

You can help your clients deal with the impacts of diminishing resources using the following strategies.

• Strengths-based approach
  • Work with clients to identify personal strengths and grow their ability to use these strengths to address unique problems. This will build on what has worked for them already while helping them to expand their knowledge.
• Empowerment approach
  • Identify clients’ opportunities to increase their resources and skills. Help find those opportunities and support them in accessing and acting on them, e.g., working as a community to design and develop a garden or greenhouse that increases access to traditional plants and food.
• Addiction counseling tools
  • Individuals who use substances to cope with stress may be at risk for increased substance abuse when they are impacted by diminishing resources. Therefore, be prepared for substance use to increase when resources become scarce. Guide clients in identifying replacement and substitution activities that can fulfill their unmet needs.
  • For more on addiction, see Chapter D-2: Substance Use and Abuse.
• Stress management techniques
  • Work with your client to identify which stress management techniques are most appropriate and spend time practicing them. See Chapter C-3: Wellness and Prevention for ways to manage stress and engage in healthy activities.

Community Approaches

As the BHA/P, you may also participate in community-wide programs and services to help your community. Advocating for the following can help:

• Disaster planning and emergency preparedness
  • Encourage community leadership to develop a disaster plan and convey it to clients as appropriate. Based on the official and socially recognized leaders in your community, you may encourage any of the following groups to work together: tribal council, city government, emergency services, elders, and students.
• Tribal or community adaptation plan
  • These plans are most effective when developed with input from the community and consistent with community priorities. They can align strategies and ideas with traditional values and cultural practices.
  • Work with community members to plan events, such as hunting or gathering plants, and teach alternate methods of preserving, including drying and freezing for long-term storage and future use.
• Community asset and resource surveys
  • These can be a useful way to learn which households tied to subsistence have low incomes. These families will have increased vulnerability to the impacts of diminishing resources over time.
  • Identify community members who can teach skills and crafts to others, who can then sell their crafts to make additional income.
• Community wellness activities
  • Lead or encourage others to lead community-based activities such as talking circles, dance, basketball tournaments, or craft groups. These can build a sense of unity and reduce stress.