Global climate change and the rise in temperatures will lead to an increase in mental health issues, says a new study published in the journal PNAS.
The study says that a one degree increase in the global average temperature will give rise to widespread presence of mental health issues.
Earlier in another study, researchers had said that suicide rates would rise with rising temperatures, compared to when temperatures are in the normal range.
Speaking to CNN, Nick Obradovich, lead author of the study and a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, said:
We don’t exactly know why we see high temperatures or increasing temperatures produce mental health problems. For example, is poor sleep due to hot temperatures the thing that produces mental health problems? We have a lot of work to do to figure out precisely what is causing what.Nick Obradovich
The Study
For the study, the researchers collated data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. This included personal, self-reported mental health reports of almost 2 million American citizens and meteorological data from 2002 till 2012.
The Surveillance System survey asked participants how their mental health status had been over the years. The respondents recorded “anything that falls within the range of stress, anxiety, depression, emotional issues”. This meant that anything which did not lead to the respondent being hospitalized or commit suicide but issues which lead to everyday emotional issues.
Then the researchers linked the mental health data to the meteorological data from the city each respondent lived in.
The Analysis
The team at first looked at the relation between temperatures and mental health over a 30-day period.
Nick Obradovich explained:
Exposure to hotter temperatures and higher rates of precipitation in that period produced increases in the probability that people were going to report some mental health problem in that period.Nick Obradovich (as told to CNN)
Then the team found that a one degree increase in the global average temperature over a 5-year period will give rise to two percentage point increase in the spread of mental health issues.
Lastly, the team analysed the reports of the people who were affected by the hurricane Katrina and compared them to the people who lived in similarly sized places but were not affected by the hurricane.
They found that the disaster was related to a four percentage point increase in the spread of mental health issues.
The Situation in India
Indians are struggling to keep their minds healthy and at peace. Data from the World Health Organization states that in 2015 over 55 million Indians were depressed.
A study published in The Lancet in 2017 said that the burden of self-harm and suicides, depressive disorders and anxiety disorders was growing across India, especially in the literate and urbanised states. The study had measured the leading causes of disability as well as loss of healthy life years, among other things.
While more research is required to ascertain the exact link between climate change and mental health issues, but the fact that it can be a contributing factor cannot be overlooked.
(With inputs from CNN)
(Have you subscribed to FIT’s newsletter yet? Click here and get health updates directly in your inbox.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)