With climate change intensifying, India faces not only a mounting environmental crisis but also a growing mental health epidemic
Image Source: Getty
This article is part of the essay series “World Mental Health Day 2024”
India, ranked as the seventh-most climate-vulnerable country globally, faces an increasingly alarming reality: climate change not only remains a physical threat but is also growing as a significant mental health challenge. While the impact of extreme weather events on the nation’s physical and economic well-being is well-documented, what often escapes attention is the profound and growing impact climate change has on mental health.
In cities and rural regions alike, the rising frequency of climate-induced disasters such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, and cyclones is pushing individuals and communities into psychological distress. When Cyclone Fani ravaged Odisha in 2019, the psychological effects were profound—villagers reported higher rates of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and even suicidal ideation. Similar patterns emerged across drought-prone states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, where widespread drought has coincided with higher farmer suicide rates. 62 percent, 44 percent, and 76 percent of land in these states respectively are classified as drought-prone. The mental health burden is staggering, yet insufficiently addressed.
In cities and rural regions alike, the rising frequency of climate-induced disasters such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, and cyclones is pushing individuals and communities into psychological distress.
Despite the clear connection between environmental disasters and mental health, India's national mental health programs remain disconnected from the climate crisis. Flagship schemes like the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) and the National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) primarily focus on clinical and medical causes of mental health issues, overlooking the role that environmental stressors play in exacerbating mental health challenges. Even the National Action Plan on Climate Change and Human Health (NAPCCHH), intended to integrate climate-sensitive health issues, provides only superficial mention of mental health, with no concrete roadmap for its inclusion in climate resilience frameworks.
India must urgently adopt an aggressive, integrated approach that incorporates climate resilience into mental health programmes. Currently, policies treat climate change and mental health in isolation, leading to fragmented strategies that fail to capture the complex relationship between the two. For instance, while mental health programmes in India aim to improve awareness and capacity, they often ignore the long-term psychological impact of displacement, economic loss, and community disintegration caused by climate-induced events.
A crucial first step is to develop hyperlocal data and information systems that capture the direct and indirect link between extreme weather events and their corresponding impacts on mental health. Advanced technologies such as telepsychiatry and wearable health devices like Oura rings, and digital watches from Big Tech can play a pivotal role in monitoring mental health trends and data on shifts in mood, anxiety, and behavioural patterns of those at risk. By utilising data from health informatics and artificial intelligence, India can dynamically assess climate-related mental health risks and make its policy responses more targeted, efficient, and timely.
India must urgently adopt an aggressive, integrated approach that incorporates climate resilience into mental health programmes.
However, one of the key obstacles to developing a comprehensive climate-resilient mental health strategy is the siloed approach of existing institutions. Ministries responsible for climate resilience and health, such as the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC), rarely coordinate effectively to address the psychological impact of climate disasters, resulting in fragmented policies. A 2022 report by the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change noted that, despite the clear link between environmental stressors and mental health outcomes, institutional efforts to integrate climate considerations into public health systems are often weak, with health ministries prioritising immediate medical response over climate adaptation.
The lack of cross-sectoral collaboration is evident in programs like the National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC), where the Health Mission does not sufficiently incorporate climate-specific mental health strategies despite evidence of mental trauma following climate disasters such as Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal and the Uttarakhand floods.
Policymakers should therefore embrace cross-sectoral collaboration that effectively integrates mental health and climate agendas. By aligning mental health awareness, infrastructure, and treatment with climate resilience strategies, a holistic approach can be created that benefits both domains. This can be achieved by taking cues from international best practices, such as the UK's Health and Care Climate Adaptation Plan, which involves coordinated efforts between the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to ensure climate resilience is integrated into public health systems, including mental health services.
One of the key obstacles to developing a comprehensive climate-resilient mental health strategy is the siloed approach of existing institutions.
To overcome existing bureaucratic hurdles, it is essential to foster an environment that encourages flexibility in resource allocation and responsibility sharing among state and national agencies. Creating inter-ministerial task forces and joint policy frameworks between the MoHFW and MoEFCC would bridge these institutional gaps.
Lastly, addressing climate-induced mental health challenges requires a collaborative approach that go beyond government efforts. Community engagement is pivotal in addressing the mental health impacts of climate change, especially in rural areas where the stigma surrounding mental health remains high. ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) workers have long been instrumental in India’s public health delivery system, particularly in reaching under-served communities. A similar cadre of community-based mental health responders, trained to recognize early signs of psychological distress caused by climate-induced events, could act as first responders in regions susceptible to extreme weather events.
To overcome existing bureaucratic hurdles, it is essential to foster an environment that encourages flexibility in resource allocation and responsibility sharing among state and national agencies.
Such models have already seen success internationally. In Zimbabwe, following Cyclone Idai, a capacity-building project among nurses and key community stakeholders led to improved awareness and effective mental health interventions. India could replicate this model, particularly in regions where climate disasters are becoming more frequent.
India is at a critical juncture. With climate change intensifying, the country faces not only a mounting environmental crisis but also a growing mental health epidemic. The time has come to integrate climate resilience into India’s mental health strategies, ensuring that both issues are addressed in tandem. By bridging gaps between institutions, leveraging data-driven technologies, and fostering community-based mental health interventions, India can build a more resilient society, better equipped to cope with the profound challenges of the future.
Aparna Roy is a Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation
Pragya Narayanan is a Research Intern at the Observer Research Foundation
The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.
Aparna Roy is a Fellow and Lead Climate Change and Energy at the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy (CNED). Aparna's primary research focus is on ...
Read More +
Pragya Narayanan is a New Delhi-based lawyer. She is a law graduate from the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS), Kochi. Her areas of ...
Read More +
.jpg)
PREV
