Public health experts increasingly recognize that adverse weather and climate conditions can have negative impacts on people’s mental health as well as physical health. Many national and international organizations, for example, have established or expanded postdisaster services to include mental health assistance and support. However, little is understood about how mental health is affected by the duration of such conditions, especially when they last for months or years on end, as can happen in droughts.
Past quantitative research has focused on characteristics of drought, such as the severity of dryness, and on linking those with mental health outcomes, explained Tuyen Luong, a doctoral student at the University of Newcastle’s Centre for Resources Health and Safety (CRHS) in New South Wales, Australia. “In our study, we focus on linking duration of drought…with the mental health of people to explore their mental response to drought over time.”