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AYMARA VALDES WEEK 4
Research Topic and Rationale.
The research topic I chose is the impact of climate change or extreme weather events on mental health. I decided to select this topic as climate change is becoming better known as not only an environmental and economic crisis but also a social health and psychological problem. The populations that are vulnerable to floods, droughts, heatwaves, and storms are generally affected with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. I am especially concerned with this field since I would like to be a professional in a psychology and public health field, where I could help vulnerable groups adjust to the social and emotional effects of climate change. This subject relates the issues facing the world to the personal mental health, and thus it is very pertinent to both the present and future studies.
Article One: Deglon, Dalvie, and Abrams (2023).
The article is a scoping review that explores the evidences of the mental health effects of extreme weather events in the African continent. It is based on the reviews of many studies in which the authors found a connection between droughts, floods and other climate-related activities and mental health outcome, which included depression, anxiety, and symptoms related to trauma. They put emphasis on the fact that African nations are particularly vulnerable because of inadequate mental health infrastructure and evidence of the excessive exposure to climatic hazards. The article concludes that the adaptation efforts in the area of climate change in Africa need to incorporate mental health support to overcome these compounded issues.
The authors have the qualifications to write this article. M. Deglon and M. A. Dalvie are members of the institutions that study the environment and public health, whereas A. Abrams brings knowledge of mental health studies. Their epidemiologists, psychological and public health backgrounds make their review credible. The article is credible because it is found at the Science of the Total Environment, a peer-reviewed journal. It is up-to-date and came out in 2023, as well as it is objective and summarises evidence without obvious prejudice. Its target audience is environmental health and psychology researchers, policymakers and practitioners. In my study, the article can be highly relevant due to the fact that it offers an overview of the evidence that is specific to the African context, allowing me to narrow my research and jointly concentrate on vulnerable populations and unequal distribution of mental health outcomes across regions.
Article Two: Mishu et al. (2024)
Another scoping review study focusing on the relationship between extreme weather events caused by climate change and mental health worldwide is the second article based on The Lancet. The article summarises the research in various areas and finds consistent results of climate stressors associated with inadequate mental health. It also outlines voids, including the lack of longitudinal studies and the underrepresentation of some groups of people, e.g. low-income countries.
The authors are a multidisciplinary group of global health, epidemiology, and psychology researchers in the field of public health. They are experienced and are thus capable of discussing the topic. The article can be trusted as it is published in one of the most respected medical journals The Lancet and is extremely up-to-date, as it was published in 2024. It is composed in a detached manner and is meant to be read by an academic and policy oriented audience. This article is of great benefit to my research as it expands on the scale of my topic,demonstrating the way my topic would fit into the global discourse and identifying the gaps in research on vulnerable areas. It makes me understand the need of placing the African views in the wider international evidence.
Reflection
Combined with each other, these two articles give regional and global views of the connection between extreme weather events and mental health. Deglon et al. (2023) assist me in reducing the scope of my research to the African context, whereas Mishu et al. (2024) make me realize that the problem is discussed on the international level as well. The articles are both scholarly, credible, and very applicable to the developme
References
Deglon, M., Dalvie, M. A., & Abrams, A. (2023). The impact of extreme weather events on mental health in Africa: A scoping review of the evidence.
Science of the total environment,
881, 163420.
Mishu, M. P., Rabbani, M. G., Vereeken, S., Martin-Kerry, J., Chowdhury, T. F., Wahab, A., … & Friend, R. (2024). Exploring the association between mental health and extreme weather events related to climate change: a scoping review.
The Lancet,
404, S28.
