The Impact of Class on Exposure to the Consequences of Climate Change and Mental Health Outcomes
Literature Review on the Impact of Class on Exposure to the Consequences of Climate Change and Mental Health Outcomes
Climate change serves as one of the greatest problems in the contemporary world. [1]Its consequences are exposed to all biological subjects and members of the middle and lower classes. Precisely, heat waves, rising temperatures, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, glaciers, and droughts are the major outcomes of climate change, which indirectly or directly impact human pathology. While using literature present in EMBASE and PubMed to facilitate their research, the authors argued that the impact of climate change among members of different classes resulted in higher cases of mental health reported in healthcare premises such as depression, aggressive behaviors, and mood disorder and anxiety schizophrenia among others. Indeed, climate change effects are adversely witnessed by low-income personnel who further experience vast public health threats. Low-class individuals are more likely to suffer mentally from climate change as; they lack access to information, resources, and protection. Climate change affects rampantly the category of people identified above, indirect or direct, long-term or short-term. The authors also noted that the effects of climate change ranged from minimal distress and stress symptoms to various clinical disorders in addition to sleep disturbances and communities and a person’s capacity to cope, respond, or understand the implications of climate change.
Correspondingly, climate change effects, as noted, include a rise in the intensity of extreme weather patterns frequency, precipitation, and a rise in sea levels. These factors threaten human mental health as it deters food, air, water, and weather. [2]The outcomes of climate change also affect a population depending on their economic level, age, gender, and behaviors, in addition to the level of climate change hazards. As noted also, individuals in developing nations such as India, Jamaica, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, among others, are likely to be affected rampantly by the effects of climate change; However, it has been proven that climate change’s vast outcomes also affect nations such as the United States of America, which is a developed nation. The major population group vastly affected by the effects of climate change depending on their class includes pregnant women, children, people with low income, and older adults. The latter has indeed affected their mental health, with some in healthcare reporting arguing that the effects of climate change, such as drought, have ported their suicidal thought.
Also, while using a systematic review, it was noted that climate change, such as warmer temperatures, results in unhealthy ground ozone levels. [3]Therefore, people, especially those in developing nations and residing in sub-Saharan Africa experiencing higher ground ozone levels, are at higher risks of experiencing mental health concerns and dying at the early life stage or getting admitted to healthcare premises due to respiratory issues. As noted, warmer temperatures damage lung tissues which reduce the function of the lung and airway inflame. Besides resulting in high depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances, it also results in lung diseases and aggravates asthma. In developing nations, warmer temperatures are heavily affected by older adults, children, outdoor workers, and humans with chronic lung diseases such as asthma. Also, in rare cases, members of developed nations are affected by the vast effects of climate change as they have access to various resources, equipment, and information critical for managing climate change. Also, the authors note that particulate matter changes have resulted in higher cases of mental health concerns being reported in healthcare premises and higher vases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease, which, when left untreated, leads to death.
Climate change results in extreme climate change. [4]Climate change results in extreme levels of precipitation, storms, droughts, and flooding, which threatens an individual’s overall health. Among the most categories of people affected by the extreme temperature are individuals living with disabilities, children, personnel with medical conditions, and older adults. Extreme weather events reduce drinking water and safer food availability. Also, it damages bridges and roads and thus disrupting a person’s access to pharmacies and hospitals. Low-income people are more likely to be affected by damaged bridges and roads as members of higher social class can access their respective healthcare premises via other means of transport such as air transport. Additionally, low-income society members’ inexperience disrupted communication and the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. The effects of extreme weather events such as intestinal and stomach illness from unsafe food and drinking water may result in individuals reporting higher cases of sleep disturbances, anxiety, insomnia, depression and eating disorders and, post-traumatic stress disorder. Precisely, older adults living with disabilities and with low-income levels are more likely to experience health risks associated with climate change effects such as extreme weather events.
Rising temperatures result in rampant cases of vectorborne diseases, with individuals affected indicating eating and anxiety disorders. [5]Their report argues that rising temperature results in vectorborne diseases, which in most cases affects the poorest population. Vectorborne diseases are transmitted by fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks and cause diseases such as headache, fever, and fatigue that deters one’s mental health. Also, members from developing nations are likely to suffer from vector-borne diseases due to their cultural and socioeconomic conditions, lack of healthcare access, and overall response to vector-borne diseases. Besides, while incorporating research from Public Health Infrastructure Programs, individuals reporting several cases of depression and anxiety disorders have experienced the vast outcome of climate change, such as rising temperature promoting the vast spread of vectorborne disease. Indeed, climate change-sensitive diseases are higher in developing nations that heavily interfere with their mental well-being. Additionally, according to the authors, climate change effects result in cases of floods that result in water-oriented illnesses. They suffer both physically and psychologically to manage the viruses, bacteria, and parasites resulting from the adverse impact of flooding.
A change in an individual’s surroundings or physical health results in the adverse outcome on their mental health. [6]For instance, experiencing adverse weather patterns or events leads to stress and other mental health outcomes, especially if they lose their property or loved ones. Studies have shown that weather events such as extreme heat result in mental illness among individuals. Additionally, extreme weather events cause a person to perceive climate change threats, which influences their stress responses and overall mental health. According to the above authors, the higher groups of people who experience the adverse outcomes of climate change are low-income populations and persons living with a disability. The vulnerable category involves ethnic and racial groups, limited English proficiency, and immigrants. The majority of the group are at higher exposures to the effects of climate change, with central factors situated on their socioeconomic status and pre-existing medical conditions.
On the other hand, the long-term mental health of the population irrespective of their class level depends on the ecological biosphere and physical system function and stability, which, however, are disrupted by climate change. [7]Climate change in human peril affects the humans life process based on its adverse impact on the natural system, putting pressure on economic standards and activities and human survival techniques. Global climate change has a burgeoning effect on mental health. Climate changes cause toxicological risks to humans’ health. Therefore, the authors note that it is essential for respective bodies to identify and analyze climate change complexity which life directly depends on particularly. The respective bodies have the mandate to understand that climate change is a vast environmental health hazard spectrum and ways human beings would encounter or prevent climate change. Climate change more so affects the middle and lower-class population. They are exposed heavily to large environmental risks as climate change interferes with their biosphere functioning and stability. Scientists, for instance, should note the complexity of climate change based on the set climate change mechanisms and its impact on human health. To fully incorporate the right prevent or limit measures to climate change, the authors argue that is it essential to understand the major causes of climate change which relies on the emission or depletion amount and its outcome to biosphere components such as soil erosion and freshwater depletion resulting to mental health issues among humans.
Also, climate change effects on the vast mental health cases continue accelerating and have an indirect, direct, and overarching impact on the marginalized groups. Therefore, there is a need to create strategies and interventions to curb the terrible effects of climate change on mental health. Human health rampantly faces the adverse effects of climate change. [8]While incorporating the impact of climate change in 2017, the authors above noted that climate change has a potentially unequivocal and irreversible impact on human health. Climate change is a dangerous hazard that causes mental health issues and death and mortality and heat-oriented morbidity, malaria, and dengue fever. While defining mental health as mental illness and mental disorders and mental problems, the authors noted that mental health also involves a mental wellness state, psychological well-being, and emotional resilience. Also, they noted that due to health inequality, climate change affected the majority of the marginalized groups based on employment, socioeconomic status, race, gender, education, and culture. Thus, to manage the effect of climate change on mental health, the authors in their discussion notes there should be much attention paid to the topic of climate change and mental health. They argue that it is critical for the scientific association between meteorological and greenhouse gas emission personnel to note the relationship between the two to understand the latter. Additionally, they must note the adverse effects of climate change on an individual recovery ranging from the crisis, post-impact, and recovery phases.
Bibliography
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Cianconi, Paolo, Sophia Betrò, and Luigi Janiri. “The impact of climate change on mental health: a systematic descriptive review.” Frontiers in psychiatry 11 (2020): 74.
Curtis, Sarah, Alistair Fair, Jonathan Wistow, Dimitri V. Val, and Katie Oven. “Impact of extreme weather events and climate change for health and social care systems.” Environmental Health 16, no. 1 (2017): 23-32.
Hayes, Katie, G. Blashki, J. Wiseman, S. Burke, and L. Reifels. “Climate change and mental health: Risks, impacts and priority actions.” International journal of mental health systems 12, no. 1 (2018): 1-12.McMichael, A.J., Campbell-Lendrum, D.H., Corvalán, C.F., Ebi, K.L., Githeko, A., Scheraga, J.D. and Woodward, A., 2003. Climate change and human health: risks and responses. World Health Organization.
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[1] Cianconi, Paolo, Sophia Betrò, and Luigi Janiri. “The impact of climate change on mental health: a systematic descriptive review.” Frontiers in psychiatry 11 (2020): 74.
[2] McMichael, A.J., Campbell-Lendrum, D.H., Corvalán, C.F., Ebi, K.L., Githeko, A., Scheraga, J.D. and Woodward, A., 2003. Climate change and human health: risks and responses. World Health Organization.
[3] Abel, David W., Tracey Holloway, Monica Harkey, Paul Meier, Doug Ahl, Vijay S. Limaye, and Jonathan A. Patz. “Air-quality-related health impacts from climate change and from adaptation of cooling demand for buildings in the eastern United States: An interdisciplinary modeling study.” PLoS medicine 15, no. 7 (2018): e1002599.
[4] Thompson, R., R. Hornigold, L. Page, and Thomas Waite. “Associations between high ambient temperatures and heatwaves with mental health outcomes: a systematic review.” Public health 161 (2018): 171-191.
[5] Curtis, Sarah, Alistair Fair, Jonathan Wistow, Dimitri V. Val, and Katie Oven. “Impact of extreme weather events and climate change for health and social care systems.” Environmental Health 16, no. 1 (2017): 23-32.
[6] Ogden, Nicholas H. “Climate change and vector-borne diseases of public health significance.” FEMS microbiology letters 364, no. 19 (2017).
[7] Obradovich, Nick, Robyn Migliorini, Martin P. Paulus, and Iyad Rahwan. “Empirical evidence of mental health risks posed by climate change.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, no. 43 (2018): 10953-10958.
[8] Hayes, Katie, G. Blashki, J. Wiseman, S. Burke, and L. Reifels. “Climate change and mental health: Risks, impacts and priority actions.” International journal of mental health systems 12, no. 1 (2018): 1-12.
