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PSYCHOLOGICAL AND MENTAL EFFECT OF GLOBAL WARMING |
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The impacts of climate change aren't limited to changes in the environment. Researchers are beginning to learn how climate change may affect our mental health. A report from the National Wildlife Federation estimated that 200 million Americans will be subject to stress due to climate change. To begin with, the incidences of mental and social disorders will rise steeply. These will include depressive and anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, substance abuse, suicides, and widespread outbreaks of violence. Children, the poor, the elderly, and those with existing mental health disorders are especially vulnerable and will be hardest hit. These catastrophes cause great physical harm, but they also impose a less obvious toll on the human psyche. When a wildfire destroys your home or business, when a flood washes away your crops for the season or your entire neighborhood, when severe drought stresses your family?s daily life, the psychological effects can be devastating. People coping with severe weather conditions can experience serious mental health symptoms, including posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety. The timing and distance of evacuation, the extent of destruction to your home and community, and the amount of family and community support all play a role. Research also suggests that between 25 and 50 percent of all people exposed to an extreme weather disaster may have some adverse mental health effects, the degree of severity depending on a number of things, including the person?s age, coping capacity, and proximity to the devastation. There are even broader implications, many of them beyond our shores. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, as climate related disasters and burdens spread across the world, the U.S. military will increasingly be called upon to help keep order. Service members will be faced with stressful, even horrifying conditions. They will see people – the young, the old, the innocent – suffer terribly. Back home, their families will experience the ripple effects, suffering vicariously and experiencing their own disruptions in finances, relationships and child-rearing. There will be the disorders from the immediate trauma, and in some cases chronic psychological disorders will follow.
It further emphasized that being evacuated from a likely disaster area ahead of time, if that is possible, can help reduce the mental health impacts of severe weather events. The researcher, Weems put it simply: ?The farther you evacuate, the less likely that your mental health will suffer negatively.? REFERENCES https://www.nwf.org/pdf/Reports/Psych_Effects_Climate_Change_Full_3_23.pdf https://judithcurry.com/2012/04/13/psychological-effects-of-global-warming/6 |
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14 Comments
I guess the impact by the environmental damage will rise and many different approaches to assess the total impact will be taken. Thanks for sharing!
Posted 31-08-2016 10:38
Rahul, Minjoo, Yvonne, Diamond, Kristi, Jared and Rohan. Your comments are inspiring I love you all and together we can save the world. Thank you.
Posted 24-08-2016 18:16
Insightful report by Olamide
Posted 24-08-2016 16:49
Thanks Olamide, for suggesting a new view to our ambassadors. Most of us have focused mainly on physical effects, but there was not much reports on psycholocal ones. It was very interesting to know, and also a reminder for me how environmental disaster causes negative impacts to our lives. Thanks for sharing!
Posted 23-08-2016 23:14
It will be great to see the researchers' findings on this issue, given that comprehending the human brain has been a draining task in the scientific world and is a task that is not close to completion. However, given the much that we know, it it possible to postulate the possible turn of events and arrive at one and/or more logical conclusions. I cannot wait to read about this topic in the coming science journals and publications.
Posted 23-08-2016 02:22
So great.Thanks for expanding our knowledge on the effect of global warming towards our mental health.
Posted 22-08-2016 19:22
Thank you Olamide for sharing this post on how climate change may affect our mental health.
Posted 22-08-2016 13:44
This is indeed another negative consequence of the climate change. Thanks for the report.
Posted 22-08-2016 12:36
environment is the mother of life support ...thank you for the information
Posted 22-08-2016 06:00
Thanks for your lovely comments, Arushi, John, Joshua and Perfect. This is a rare aspect of climate change that the world is not really paying attention to, I hope this crucial effect will be addressed in the coming conferences.
Posted 22-08-2016 02:49
Very very insightful. That is a great article - I love this one. Thanks for putting up this article and the reference too.
Posted 22-08-2016 02:22
Very insightful report. Indeed we are sometimes quick to forget the psychological impact of disasters due to climate change since mostly our focus is on the physical damage incurred. But these stressors can have effects on the mental state of individuals, spanning years. A closer look at it and appropriate measures to maintain sound health amid crisis by experts will be a very good step.
Posted 22-08-2016 01:46
Thanks for sharing details about negative consequences of climate change-from an altogether new perspective.
Posted 22-08-2016 01:35
A new twist to the climate change challenge
Posted 21-08-2016 23:19