The global burden of morbidity and mortality associated with mental illness is huge, and mental health is seriously adversely affected in emergency settings. Climate change-related emergencies such as large-scale flooding destroy health and other infrastructure and displace already vulnerable women, children, and their families. Such emergencies have cascading and compounding effects on mental health, by increasing rates of stress, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, for example.
Mental Health
Our focus will be on actions to face the impacts of climate change on mental and psychological health through emotional education based on Neurolinguistic Programming - NLP techniques. Assuming that the first scale of impacts is limited to the physical dimension, this is where mental health plays an important role in maintaining emotional control in order to generate clarity of thoughts and strategies for coping with the situation.
Depression is common among older Nigerians. The disorder is associated with chronicity, disability and elevated risk of suicidality. Social, economic and occupational factors are associated with onset of these conditions in the population. In our nationally representative study of older Nigerians (ISA), depression incidence in subsistent farmers was 1.5 times higher than in the rest of the cohort (17.7% vs 12.1%). ISA participants living in rural Nigeria, with predominance of farming communities, had 1.3 and 2.5 times the risk of depression and suicidality.
This proposed study seeks to address psychosocial health challenges that are due to climate change induced natural disasters in Southern Africa. Psychosocial health encompasses the mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of well-being (Kumar, 2020). Much of the focus on climate change-associated health impacts and response action research in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has centered on physical health aspects and nutritional health aspects.
Mental health is a crucial aspect of human health that can influence any health-related decision and behavior. Still, mental health issues are neglected in Bangladesh. The burden of mental health disorders is rising. Around 19% of adults and 13% of children are identified as having at least one mental disorder with only about 1.6 psychiatrics per 1 million people. The number of nurses, psychologists, and health facilities are also insufficient and mostly centered around major cities. Coastal areas are often left behind in terms of health and preventive services.
South Africa's mental health ranks one of the lowest in the world, calling for evidence-based interventions. Vulnerability to mental distress is highest among marginalized groups, including children, recently exacerbated by extreme climate events and COVID-19. South Africa's legacy of racial segregation (Apartheid) now manifests at personal and environmental levels, as psychological fragmentation (worsened by intergenerational trauma), and a sense of separation from the natural world.
Group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-G) is a proven, simple and cost-efficient community-based model to treat depression. IPT-G focuses on the interpersonal relationships of depressed group members. StrongMinds Uganda has successfully adapted its IPT-G therapeutic model to treat depression and improve the wellbeing of adolescents aged 12-19. In addition to group talk therapy, the organization delivers psychoeducation to young people, their families and teachers in an effort to break down stigma and address destructive gender norms.
Since 2015 Yemen has been beset by civil war, destabilizing family and community life and subjecting children and adolescents to severe psychological crises. With active war-related trauma, Sana’a with a population of 2-3 million people has been particularly hard hit. Frequent bombing raids have destroyed public buildings and homes and caused collective fear and trauma. A 2016 survey found 79% of school children had symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, yet there are almost no resources to help them.
Eight years into the Syrian Civil War, the mental health needs of children (ages 5-18) across Syria are immense. There is a veritable shortage of available mental health professionals to address these needs, leaving children without access to care. Leveraging community-based resources by training and supervising Syrian women to deliver needed mental healthcare would increase access to care amongst vulnerable children.
Integrating evidence-based treatment into a comprehensive intervention package, embedding it within the routine PHC practice in Lagos, Nigeria. The package consists of screening, treatment initiation, follow up and adherence support, clinical supervision and referral if needed, all derived using the WHO’s mental health gap intervention guide (mhGAP-IG) and delivered by trained non-specialist health workers