Ahead of World Mental Health Day, a project in rural Kenya has been studying the possible effects of climate change on mental health. A survey of nearly 15,000 women produced concerning signs, with results suggesting droughts and heat waves are linked with much higher levels of suicidal thoughts.

A recent project has examined the effects of climate change on women's mental health in rural Kenya, finding a correlation between extreme weather events such as droughts and heat waves and increased levels of suicidal thoughts. The study, which surveyed nearly 15,000 women, is the first of its kind in the region to focus on climate anxiety among women.

Researchers emphasised the importance of considering mental well-being when building resilient communities facing climate-related challenges. The findings point to a need for enhanced mental health support and infrastructure, particularly as communities continue to experience food insecurity and resource shortages linked to climate change.

Project looks at impact of climate change on women's mental health

A new project studying the effects of climate change on mental health has found that droughts and heat waves are linked to higher levels of suicidal thoughts. Elizabeth Amina Kadenge is a farmer in Kaloleni, one of the poorest areas of Kenya. She says the changing climate is a major source of stress. My maize yield failed this season, unlike cassava, which performed well. While the loss of maize is already a setback, my bigger concern is the lack of subsistence food. Maize takes about three months to mature and be ready for harvest. In contrast, cassava planted today won't be harvested until around this time next year. This means that during this entire period I will have to spend money to buy food, something I wouldn't need to do if my maize yield had been successful. It's a serious challenge as I now have to rely on purchases instead of feeding my household from my own harvest. Scientists behind the project surveyed nearly 15,000 women in rural Kenya. It's the first time a study of climate anxiety has been done with women in the region. We have to talk to them, we have to ask them, engage them, but it was purely a quantitative question that we have asked, you know, so do you have any suicidal thoughts or ideation? If you do, you know, do you have it every day, on several days a week, do you have it a few times a month? So it's because of that standard questionnaire, but then we don't ask them more onto that, you know, about how they did it, why they did it, what made them do that. So those are not something that asks. Zul Morali directs the Brain and Mind Institute in Nairobi. He says there are multiple dimensions to climate change. If you want resilient communities, you can't not be thinking about mental well-being as well. So I think that is a very important component of building resilient communities. And so I think that there should be more infrastructure to provide mental health support in those communities as well as try to figure out ways of dealing with the shortages that they will experience, for example, in water supply and things like that. The project was conducted ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10th. It's an international day for global mental health education and advocacy.

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