Air Date: Week of November 28, 2025

A sunset tinted red by wildfire smoke, as seen near the Doering family cabin. (Photo: Jenni Doering)

Wildfires can take a huge mental toll and people who live in wildfire-impacted communities may experience post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. Host Jenni Doering tells Host Aynsley O’Neill about her frightening childhood experience of the 2003 Cedar Fire in San Diego and they discuss emotional resilience strategies shared by Jyoti Mishra, a UCSD professor of psychiatry who co-directs the University of California Climate Change and Mental Health Council.

Transcript

O’NEILL: So of course, extreme wildfires take a huge physical and mental toll and Jenni, I think this is where things get a little personal for you.

DOERING: That’s right Aynsley. As you know, I grew up in San Diego. And in October 2003, back when I was still in middle school, the Cedar Fire exploded to hundreds of thousands of acres right in and around the city. It was so dry that fall that my wonderfully eccentric English teacher led us in a “rain dance” which, now that I think about it, was likely a bit culturally offensive… but anyway, within days that fire sparked.

O’NEILL: Oh Jenni, I hate to be a bit glib, but that must have been a pretty bad rain dance.

DOERING: I mean I guess so. You know, it’s dark, but you have to find ways to laugh about it afterwards. I mean, neighborhood after neighborhood was literally being ordered to evacuate as the fires advanced and left behind only chimneys. The sky was so dark in San Diego, the sun was red, there were ashes falling like some kind of weird SoCal snow. And my family never did have to evacuate, but the fire got really close.

O’NEILL: Oh, that’s so scary. I mean it sounds downright apocalyptic.

DOERING: It really was. And it’s weird, thinking back on it, as a kid that felt like such an extreme and one-time trauma, like something that would never happen again. But now I know that these disasters are becoming much more common thanks to climate disruption, and so that’s a whole other layer of heartbreak that I’m still coming to terms with.

O’NEILL: I can only imagine, and I mean given how common wildfire smoke is these days, I’m wondering if that might be a bit triggering for you?

DOERING: Yeah, I mean I think so, and you know, you can’t help but be reminded of those very frightening Cedar Fire days even from just a whiff of wildfire smoke. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m OK, but it’s really a relief to find researchers who are studying not just the mental health impact of wildfires but also strategies to help people cope, researchers like Jyoti Mishra who we had on the broadcast back during the Los Angeles Fires in January 2025.

O’NEILL: Yes, Jyoti is a co-director of the University of California Climate Change and Mental Health Council and associate professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego. And she’s studied mental health impacts in the aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California and the 2023 Maui blazes in Hawaii.

MISHRA: We see that not surprisingly, individuals' mental health is greatly impacted and people show varying degrees of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. And the brain kind of goes into a hyperalert stress state and so it's difficult to focus on tasks on hand.

DOERING: You know, it’s been a long time since I lived through a major wildfire but I really do remember that hyperalert feeling.

O’NEILL: And you know in terms of resilience strategies, when Jyoti studied people who had survived the Camp Fire in California, one-third showed those distress symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, depression or being hyperalert. But the other 70% who had shown more resiliency had a couple key things in common.

MISHRA: Taking care of your physical self is very important, having good sleep hygiene, being able to sleep well, being able to exercise is very important. And then we've also found that people who were more mindful, that is people who practice more present moment awareness, those people did better. And then finally, a really important factor is social connection, being connected to those in your family and in your community and having a great support network around you, can really protect you from such a catastrophic event.

O’NEILL: I mean it rings true, and we hear over and over again with disasters, it’s the importance of community.

DOERING: We need each other for sure. You know, Aynsley there’s one more thing to share. The cabin my grandparents built in the mountains east of San Diego, our beloved weekend home tucked in a pine and oak forest, was in the direct path of the fire. And we thought for sure it was a goner.

O’NEILL: Oh but it survived? How?

DOERING: Well, firefighters were able to spray it with fire-retardant foam just in time before the flames swept right through. And Aynsley, knowing what I now know about PFAS in firefighting foam… well… that’s a complicated mix of emotions to unpack.

O’NEILL: I bet, it comes with all those health concerns. So, instead of what, out of the frying pan and into the fire… now you’ve got a… what, out of the fire and into the nonstick frying pan of forever chemicals?

DOERING: Yeah, I guess that’s one way to put it! Well, whatever was in it, that foam must have really worked because the fire burned so hot at the cabin that there were still live coals smoldering between oak tree trunks a whole week later.

O’NEILL: Oh my gosh, wow. That is intense.

DOERING: Yeah, and honestly, the trees looked dead. But before long, most of those oaks sprouted new green leaves as the forest started to recover from that trauma. And eventually, so did we.

 

Links

Learn more about Dr. Jyoti Mishra.

Read the study “Climate trauma from wildfire exposure impacts cognitive decision-making.”

Learn more about NEATLABS, where Jyoti Mishra is co-director.