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REVIEW article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1466722

Understanding Mental Health Challenges and Associated Risk Factors of Post-Natural Disasters in Bangladesh: A Systematic Review

Provisionally accepted
Md. Zawadul Karim Md. Zawadul Karim 1Md. Al-Mamun Md. Al-Mamun 2*Maliha Azad Eva Maliha Azad Eva 3Md. Hazrat Ali Md. Hazrat Ali 4ABUL KALAM ABUL KALAM 5Nurul Islam Uzzal Nurul Islam Uzzal 5
  • 1 Department of Psychology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj, Bangladesh
  • 2 BRAC Institute of Governance & Development (BIGD), BRAC University, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh
  • 3 Mass Communication and Journalism Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, Khulna, Bangladesh
  • 4 Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Sylhet, Bangladesh
  • 5 Department of Sociology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj, Bangladesh

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background and Objectives: Natural disasters are harmful occurrences caused by the Earth's geological and meteorological processes. Bangladesh is recognized as one of the country's most vulnerable to natural disasters. Therefore, the people of Bangladesh remain at high risk of natural disasters. However, no study has been conducted in Bangladesh to provide an overall perspective on mental health issues that arise after natural disasters. Thus, this systematic review aims to identify all mental health issues and related risk factors brought on by natural disasters in Bangladesh.Methods: Between April to May 2024, a systematic search was conducted across many databases, including PubMed, following the PRISMA guideline. Ultimately, 17 publications were included in this study.The findings reveal that depression, anxiety, stress, suicidal ideation, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and sleep disturbances are found as major risk factors for natural disasters. Prevalence of depression, anxiety and, stress, suicidal ideation ranges from 16.3% to 92.71%, 6% to 92.19%, 32.41% to 58%, 10.9% to 57.5% among people as consequences of natural disasters like heatwaves, cyclones, flood, river bank erosion etc.There are some associated risk factors which provoke prominent mental health problems, including (i) Demographic factors (age, gender, marital status, number of children, lower education, living location, living infrastructure, family conflicts, family member death, land for cultivation, loss of domestic animals), (ii) socio-economic factors (environmental settings, social support, disaster warning system, displacement, food crisis, financial support, income loss, vulnerable livelihoods) (iii) behaviour and health-related factors (behaviour pattern, physical injury during natural disaster, physical disability), (iv) other factors (increased temperature, living together, lower social class).People affected by natural disasters are often viewed in terms of their physical damage, while their mental health is always ignored.Calculative measures are needed to create an overall picture of the effect of natural disasters on people's mental health in Bangladesh. Therefore, the government needs to consider establishing potential measures to lessen the impact of natural disasters on people's mental health.

    Keywords: Mental Health, natural disasters, Risk factors, Systematic review, Bangladesh

    Received: 18 Jul 2024; Accepted: 12 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Karim, Al-Mamun, Eva, Ali, KALAM and Uzzal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Md. Al-Mamun, BRAC Institute of Governance & Development (BIGD), BRAC University, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.