Did you know that global warming has a lot to do with the incidence of mental problems in the population?

A study published on October 8 by PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), states that climate change, which causes temperatures higher than normal, can cause more mental problems in the population.

Leer en español: El cambio climático podría ocasionar problemas de salud mental

What are the results of the study?

The data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States was taken IGNORE INTO account. Information was obtained from more than 2 million people. All respondents claim that they suffered from stress, emotional problems and depression at some point in their lives. These results were crossed with the climatic data of the city where each person who participated in the study resided.

In this regard, Nick Obradovich, who is dedicated to research at the MIT Media Lab and is one of the main authors of the study, states that the "exposure to hotter temperatures and higher rates of precipitation in that period produced increases in the probability that people were going to report some mental health problem in that period."

In the study, it was concluded that, if the temperature in which the surveyed persons live has a general average of 30 degrees, the possibility of having mental health problems is increased by 0.5%. According to the authors of the study, global warming is related to a 2% increase in mental disorders.

Another part of the report points out that in those places where there were climatic problems that ended in natural catastrophes, people had a 4% increase in the possibility of suffering from some type of mental disorder.

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Climate change influences more than we thought

Another investigation that was published by the Springer website in October of this year, whose authors are Leili Tapak, Zohreh Maryanaji, and Omid Hamidi among other important scientists, supports that theory. This report also states that high temperatures increased the amount of self-harm and suicide attempts in a large percentage of the population.

The study collected data on the relationship between climate change from March 2005 to March 2017, with the mental health of people that are bipolar and schizophrenic.

The climatological parameters that this scientist took IGNORE INTO account were those of rainy days, windy days, cloudy days and snowfalls. They crossed information with the increase of cases of schizophrenia and bipolarity, and came to the conclusion that bipolarity consultations increased the days of rain and storm. On the other hand, the consultations for schizophrenia increased when there were strong winds, snow or fog in the environment.

LatinAmerican Post | Marcela Antonacci

Translated from "El cambio climático podría ocasionar problemas de salud mental"

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