Climate crisis adds to mental health worries

This mental health day (October 10), India has reasons to be wary. Recent data reveals a troubling rise in mental health challenges across demographics, with the country holding the grim distinction of having the highest number of suicides worldwide. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 1.71 lakh people died by suicide in 2022. Depression prevalence among the youth ranges between 31% and 57%, and a UNICEF report states that one in seven young Indians aged 15 to 24 always feels depressed. The climate crisis threatens to exacerbate this situation, leading to severe long-term implications for mental well-being and overall quality of life.
In both urban and rural areas, climate-induced disasters such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, and cyclones are driving individuals and communities into psychological distress. The loss of livelihoods, forced migration, and weakened social cohesion all carry mental health consequences. In addition, anxiety over the climate crisis itself — its effects on national security and personal safety — can cause deep emotional strain. Research in the International Review of Psychiatry showed that after Cyclone Fani devastated Odisha in 2019, affected villages saw a surge in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. Similarly, drought-prone states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, where large portions of land suffer from recurring droughts, also report alarmingly high suicide rates among farmers.
Despite clear links, India’s mental health response does not explicitly account for the role of the climate crisis. National flagship programmes such as the National Mental Health Programme and the National Suicide Prevention Strategy focus primarily on clinical causes, overlooking the environmental stressors that intensify mental health challenges. While the National Action Plan for Climate Change and Human Health (NAPCCHH) aims to “reduce climate-sensitive illnesses”, it only superficially references the integration of climate concerns into mental health policy, without a clear roadmap to achieve it.
It is, therefore, urgent for India to adopt an aggressive strategy that integrates climate resilience and disaster response policies into all aspects of mental health, including monitoring, diagnosis, and infrastructure, while addressing financial, technical, and capacity gaps.
Currently, policies treat the climate crisis and mental health in isolation, leading to fragmented strategies that fail to capture their complex relationship. For instance, while mental health programmes in India aim to improve awareness and capacity, they often ignore the long-term psychological impact of displacement, economic loss, and community disintegration caused by climate disasters.
A key challenge with devising an effective climate resilient mental health strategy is that the majority of states lack comprehensive databases or inventory that capture climate and environment risks on mental health across regions and can project associated shifts in moods, behaviours, and patterns of psychiatric issues (such as anxiety, depression). This results in inefficient mental health diagnostic practices, misallocation of resources, and inadequate crisis response mechanisms.
By leveraging advancements in telepsychiatry, wearable health devices like Oura rings, and other digital health technologies, India can generate real-time data that informs adaptive mental health strategies in the face of changing climate patterns.
Given the urgency to address the mental health crisis across India, it is imperative to expedite the setting up of advanced mental health research facilities capable of developing psychiatric monitoring technologies that use Artificial Intelligence and health informatics for accurate and dynamic forecasting of climate-related mental illnesses.
Transforming mental health care from reactive, post-incident treatment to proactive prevention of mental illness due to climate impact demands robust implementation on the ground. However, India’s existing mental health infrastructure is already severely inadequate. Only 30% of mental health patients receive treatment, and the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS) reveals a treatment gap of over 85% for common mental disorders, largely due to a lack of awareness and access. India has only 0.7 mental health professionals for every one lakh people — far below the global guideline of at least three per lakh.
Strategic investments in expanding mental health services and training health care professionals towards climate sensitive psychological impacts are crucial. Collaboration between government agencies, civil society organisations, and local communities will be key to developing holistic, culturally sensitive approaches to climate resilient mental health care.
Lastly, addressing climate-induced mental health challenges requires a collaborative approach that goes beyond government efforts. A comprehensive community-driven, locally-led adaptation of climate resilient mental health, spearheaded by the state governments and district administrations is essential, especially in rural areas where the stigma surrounding mental illness remains high. Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers, who have been vital in India’s public health delivery, could inspire the creation of a similar cadre of community-based mental health responders. These responders, trained to recognise early signs of psychological distress caused by climate-related events, would serve as frontline support in areas vulnerable to extreme weather.
International models provide valuable lessons. In Zimbabwe, following Cyclone Idai, a capacity-building project among nurses and key community stakeholders led to improved mental health awareness and interventions. India could replicate this approach in regions prone to climate disasters.
By bridging gaps between institutions, leveraging data-driven technologies, and fostering community-based mental health interventions, India can build a more resilient mental health programme, better equipped to cope with the profound challenges of the future.
Aparna Roy is lead, Climate Change and Energy, Centre for New Economic Diplomacy, ORF. The views expressed are personal