Seventy-year-old Momena Begum, a widow from cyclone-pron Rekhamari village in Dacope upazila, walks with a stooped posture due to old age and illness. She often finds herself bogged down during cyclones and tidal surges.
In such challenging times, she suffers from deep anxiety.
Momena’s only son, Ekram Sheikh, became deaf and bedridden after surviving a heart attack two decades ago. Ekram’s wife, Rahela Begum, died a few years later.
Being the only trusted guardian, Momena raises Ekram and Rahela’s two daughters, Kulsum and Abeda. Working as a servant at a solvent neighbour’s house, she meets family needs.
"Whenever there is a cyclone warning, she gets worried about Abba's (Ekram) safety and ours. She also has to shoulder the burden of the cyclone-caused devastation, including the damage to our house," Momena’s grandchild Kulsum said a couple of weeks after Cyclone Remal hit Rekhamari.
Bangladesh is ranked as the 7th most climate-vulnerable nation, according to the Global Risk Index 2021. It is a low-lying country in South Asia and is particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
According to climate analysts, the frequency and severity of disasters, such as cyclones, floods, and rising sea levels are causing long-lasting psychological problems.
Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed, Associate Professor at the National Institute of Mental Health, says, “Climate Change and mental health have a synergic effect. People have personality disorders due to climate change.”
This year, a multi-stakeholder civil society advocacy and monitoring network, Bangladesh Health Watch, has published a study, pointing out that climate victims in Bangladesh are suffering from anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health issues.
The study found a significant prevalence of moderate to extremely severe depression (22.48%), moderate to extremely severe anxiety (25.07%), moderate to severe stress (49.42%), PTSD (20.03%), and poor sleep quality (43.95%) among the surveyed people in another disaster-prone coastal district, Satkhira.
Lack of livelihood, difficulty in movement, disruption in communication, increased rate of migration, domestic violence, and social conflicts were found as major triggering factors affecting the mental health of the surveyed population.
Working as an expert in the study, Dhaka University’s clinical psychology teacher Professor Dr Muhammad Kamruzzaman Mozumder observed the mental health condition of some coastal people.
He told Bangladesh First, “A disaster-affected community becomes traumatised while abruptly losing their means of living and security of lives. Due to the lack of comprehensive protection, destitute people cannot cope with the sudden changes.”
Kamruzzaman understood that a natural disaster has had a long-term impact on the mental health of the victims.
How disasters impact mental health
Following natural disasters, a report from the American Public Health Association reveals that up to 54% of adults and 45% of children experience depression.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge found in 2022 that extreme weather and climate events can exacerbate gender-based violence due to factors such as economic shock, social instability, enabling environments, and stress.
Heat waves are linked to people’s mood disorders, anxiety disorders, dementia, and disorders associated with anxiety.
Droughts can result in food insecurity and water scarcity which raises the risk of mental health illnesses. These conditions can have an impact on children’s neurological issues associated with developmental delays and malnutrition-driven mental health problems.
The main impact of flooding appears to be on mental health, especially causing Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD. In many situations, the onset of PTSD symptoms can take months or even years after the threatening crisis event is first experienced.
Disasters like cyclones are consistently linked with physical damage from hazard exposure—like injury or drowning—which may raise hospitalization and death rates more rapidly. These events raise the chances of PTSD.
