For the Community

In the face of the multifaceted and deeply rooted challenges posed by climate change to communities in Jharkhand, a call to action becomes imperative. Fortunately, low-hanging solutions can be implemented to mitigate these concerns.

Communities should receive tailored psychosocial support as part of climate-focused interventions. This includes counselling to address the emotional and psychological impact of climate-related stressors, along with equipping them with skills and strategies to navigate future challenges. Mental health interventions are crucial for building active and adaptive coping mechanisms to manage climate-induced stressors effectively.

We propose a three-pronged approach to tackle these complex issues – i. Scenario Building and Actionable Strategies Catering to Health Challenges ii. Building Community Awareness and Collaboration Platforms iii. Complementing our efforts by leveraging government schemes for supporting communities with Climate-Adaptive Livelihoods and Economic Empowerment.

We also propose the development of immediate action strategies to alleviate the disproportionate burden that women face in the face of climate change. This could include but not be limited to – i. Catering to Preventive Behaviours; ii. Recognizing and Managing Symptoms - understanding heat-related symptoms, shifting menstrual cycles, and how to address them; iii. Assisting and Caring for someone experiencing Climate Induced Symptoms; iv. Immediate Escalation Strategies according to symptom seriousness; v. Awareness of the nearest Medical Facilities.

Additionally, we propose leveraging collective support groups to provide emotional and tangible support for women who are left behind and overburdened, dealing with stress and anxiety. These support groups could enable emotional expression and talk therapy, along with tangible support like childcare, food, and financial risk pooling to provide sustained support structures and coping strategies. We propose to guide women in identifying and unpacking self-limiting beliefs and traumas that hinder personal growth or mental resilience. Through interactive activities and self-reflection, participants can recognize key thoughts holding them back, with a reference scale identifying severe cases needing expert intervention. Visual emotional aids can help them explore and acknowledge their emotions while tracing the origins of beliefs aids in focusing efforts for change. Reflecting on behaviours and responses, they categorise coping mechanisms and learn self-regulation techniques. Lastly, co-creating and testing different kinds of visualisation, conceptualization, and interactional exercises, can be attempted in guided small group sessions. These exercises would draw from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and use gamified approaches with tailored actionable healthy coping mechanisms. Some of these could include art therapy, expressive writing, guided meditation, mindfulness exercises, somatic experiencing and more. This should be modified for contextual nuances.

Finally, we will establish links between individuals and trained buddies/sakhis who can provide support and intervention in high-risk situations. Collaborative sessions with frontline workers will also help recognize mental health symptoms and reinforce support systems, ensuring individuals receive the necessary assistance and emotional support.

For future research and policy

On the systems side, we perceive that scenario-building must be the foundation of climate defense. The development of scenarios of vulnerability can build upon existing mappings of climate risk, but it would necessarily integrate climatological information with economic, social, and human knowledge to envision how different kinds of risk can laminate, overlay and compound one another. A diverse panel of experts with different kinds of disciplinary expertise would be required to converge diverse areas of human knowledge, ranging from the climatological to the medical to the veterinarian and zoonotic sciences, to economic and social systems including conflict and migration. By converging these areas of knowledge around the likely consequences of climate vectors on human wellbeing, thrival and survival, we can build more and more sophisticated conceptual models around climate and its impact on mental health. In the dystopian climate future as well as a current need, we require an expert system or series of panels to offer direction as well as a dynamic network of public and private institutional responses to meet their immediate and long-term needs.

We also strongly advocate for acknowledging the correlation between climate-related stressors, increased mental health conditions, and gender-based violence, an area that currently lacks sufficient research and recognition. It is crucial to prioritize this aspect and focus on implementing strategies and generating evidence to address it effectively. Additionally, there is a pressing need to expand the evidence base regarding the effectiveness of community-led interventions and their impact on mental health. While much of the current mental health research and interventions center around clinical providers, in the context of climate-induced challenges, community-led approaches may offer greater scalability and effectiveness.

Moreover, the insufficient exploration of the impact of micronutrient deficiencies on mood and mental health from a cultural lens, that is whose dietary diversity is impacted due to climate change, is concerning. Addressing this issue is essential, given the significant impact of climate change not only on mental health but also on nutrition. Bringing this discussion to the forefront and emphasising the biomedical elements involved are crucial steps in addressing these challenges effectively.

Once this evidence is generated, it becomes imperative to prioritise early interventions for community members, particularly women, adolescents, and elders. Identifying and scaling up innovative models is essential to effectively address the mental health challenges exacerbated by climate change.

Note: many of these case studies are based on qualitative research and anecdotal evidence.

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The Impacts of Climate Change on Mental Health of Tribal Communities in Jharkhand

Brief description of the community

Brief discussion of the community’s experience of climate change

Detailed discussion of the climate-related mental health impacts experienced by the community as documented by the community or the researchers

Description of the community responses to climate-related mental health problems

Key insights and lessons learned

Recommendations

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