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The changing climate can affect the psyche of people
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
Climatic and ecological changes on the planet are dangerous not only for the agrarian industry and megacities, but also for the mental health of a person, according to the periodical Huffington Post.
The American Psychological Associative Group and a number of environmentalists from EcoAmerica presented a jointly produced report detailing the impact of global climate change on the human psyche. The report is published under the title "The state of the psyche and the modern changing climate: effects, consequences and advice." In it, experts discuss their findings about the fact that many of the inhabitants of the planet are exposed to the influence of climate and ecology, which leads to stressful stresses, anxiety, anxiety, depressive states. Some people also develop suicidal tendencies, or severe mental disorders.
The authors of the report argue that natural disasters directly affect the development of periodic and persistent mental disorders in people who have seen such disasters. For example, in 2014, the lands of East Africa, New Zealand and France were subjected to extreme weather changes - from severe drought to record rainfall. Among the population that survived such events, a large number of patients with psychological trauma were subsequently recorded - and this can not be called a coincidence. Some of these people lost their loved ones because of the disaster, someone lost their property: as a result, mental health suffered.
Among those who suffered as a result of the devastating effect of Hurricane Katrina (in 2005), one in six people was later diagnosed with a mental disorder. Years later, these people showed suicidal attempts and thoughts, severe depression or affective disorders.
Also, experts noticed that the excessive warming of the climate affected the increase in irritability and the increase in the number of suicides among the population. Only in the United States, the number of heat phenomena over the past year has tripled. Abnormal heat caused increased aggression in people, which subsequently caused harm to themselves or other people.
According to statistics, the anomalous heat is associated with a rise in the wave of murders and suicides, as a rise in the ambient temperature can really negatively affect the psyche of people with already existing disorders.
And another category of people who experienced the negative impact of climate change are internally displaced people. According to the latest statistical information, for the next thirty years at least 200 million people will have to change their place of residence because of environmental disasters, as increasing the level of the world's ocean entails certain problems in many regions. The loss of the motherland and the resultant sense of instability in the majority of immigrants often leads to various mental disorders.
The obtained data should be used for forecasting the situation and rendering possible assistance to the victims.