When Nature's Fury Enters the Human Mind

World Mental Health Day 2025

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How natural disasters and environmental imbalances transform economies, politics, and our mental health.

Natural Calamities and Environmental Imbalances

Natural disasters—floods, earthquakes, droughts, cyclones, and forest fires have been an integral part of Earth's cycle. But the intensity and the number of these catastrophes are no longer natural; they are increased by environmental imbalances brought about through human actions. Widespread deforestation, the overuse of fossil fuels, and uncontrolled industrialization have destabilized ecosystems, causing more severe droughts, erratic rainfalls, and increased sea levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2023) has emphasized that the growing incidence of extreme weather events has multiplied mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression, especially in vulnerable disaster-affected areas. Briefly put, what first appears as a physical disturbance of earth and water takes the form of psychological disturbance of lives.

The Paradox of Climate Promises

Climate change is now one of the most debated topics in the world, but one of the least followed up on. From the 2015 Paris Agreement to the latest COP28 in Dubai, it has been world leaders standing together and promising carbon neutrality, renewable energy goals, and green belt initiatives. But behind the rhetoric, the statistics reveal a brutal reality: emissions globally reached a record in 2023, according to the Global Carbon Project, and Amazon deforestation boomed by almost 22% over 2020-2022, even as repeated promises were made to protect it.