Experimenting climate -related catastrophes is associated with a cumulative deterioration of mental health, according to an Australian study with data from 5,000 people found that the effects are aggravated with successive events.
The details are published in The Lancet Public Health, in an article in which the authors underline the urgency of considering these multiple disasters to disasters in public health and social welfare services.
The work is based on longitudinal data between 2009 and 2019 of 5,000 people who suffered damage in their home after at least one catastrophe (flood, forest fire or cyclone), to which a monitoring was carried out from the years before the disaster to the after each exhibition.
According to the authors, assigned among others to the University of Melbourne, experiencing successive climate -related catastrophes is associated with a greater seriousness of the deterioration of mental health.
Thus, recovery to the initial situation prior to disaster was more delayed with repeated exhibitions. Greater deterioration in mental health were observed when disasters occurred closer to previous exposure (with a difference of 1 to 2 years) than when they occurred further (with 3 or more years apart).
Likewise, it was discovered that women, younger individuals, indigenous populations and inhabitants of rural areas were more likely to experience a deterioration of mental health after repeated disasters.
Also that people with diseases, deficiencies or long -term disabilities, those with little social support, as well as housing owners with mortgages and tenants, experienced a greater deterioration of mental health between the first and the following catastrophes.
The authors admit that the investigation has some limitations. For example, the measure of exposure to disaster was based on damage to homes caused by a disaster reported by the participants themselves.
In addition, the modest sample size for three disasters (or more) introduces uncertainty and limits the ability to extract solid inferences about the effect.
However, they defend their conclusions and affirm that the findings highlight the cumulative effects on the mental health of exposure to multiple catastrophes related to the climate, which must be taken into account and approached urgently in public health services.
The researchers affirm that for the first time they have statistically demonstrated that the accumulation of two or three natural catastrophes, especially among vulnerable people, more frequently causes posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression than the occurrence of a single catastrophe or none, explains the psychiatrist Paul Valent.
With climate change producing more natural catastrophes, they warn that the mental health of the population will get worse. “Its logic, backed by abundant statistics, seems unattainable,” says the researcher who does not participate in the study.
However, this is limited to “a little handful” of measurable symptoms that, they say, represent mental health, ”describes Valent, retired president of the Society for Australasia Traumatic Stress Studies, in statements collected by the Science Media Media Center scientific resources platform.
“This assumption is questionable.” Symptoms do not include a wide range of other psychological symptoms such as duel, anger, guilt, shame and injustice. And they say nothing about the psychosomatic consequences of catastrophes, such as myocardial infarctions, strokes and a wide variety of physical symptoms.
With EFE information
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