ABSTRACT
Although much has been described about climate-related distress, there is scant information about more extreme states, such as manic responses to the crisis. This chapter offers a single clinical case study highlighting the significance of climate change in relation to what was described as ‘climate mania’ by Lawrence Clarke, a pseudonym used to identify the case. Drawing on Lacanian theory, the chapter details how climate change was central to Clarke's manic-depressive experience, and how paying attention to these strands throughout the psychotherapeutic process assisted in working through the challenges he was facing. The chapter also discusses how foreclosure of links to the Symbolic Order – encompassing language, laws and societal values – was important to his experience. The study highlights how biomedical approaches to manic responses to climate threats close opportunities for a person's sense of subjectivity in relation to the climate crisis and indicates the need for further research into the intersections between climate change and extreme states, such as mania and psychosis.
