Phenomena like wildfires could be devastating to human lives and the environment. Now, a latest study has found that folks subjected to “climate trauma” are also prone to experience mental health problems reminiscent of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression.

The study, published within the journal PLOS Climate, observed people, directly and not directly, affected by the Camp Fire of 2018, which was said to be one among the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in California history.

In November 2018, the Camp Fire decimated 239 square miles of area, and destroyed 18,804 structures, killing 85 people in the method, Earth.com reported.

“Climate change is an emerging challenge. It’s already well-documented that extreme climate events end in significant psychological impacts. Warming temperatures, for instance, have even been linked to greater suicide rates. As planetary warming amplifies, more forest fires are expected in California and globally, with significant implications for mental health effects,” study senior writer Jyoti Mishra, an associate professor of Psychiatry at UC San Diego, said.

For the study, the scientists recruited 27 individuals directly exposed to the Camp Fire, 21 not directly exposed (individuals who witnessed the wildfir,e but were circuitously affected), and 27 control individuals. The participants then underwent a series of cognitive tests, and their brain activity was measured by electroencephalography (EEG). 

Fire-exposed individuals showed increased activity in brain areas related to cognitive control and interference processing (coping with disturbing thoughts), the study found.

“To operate well day-to-day, our brains must process information and manage memories in ways in which help achieve goals while ignoring or shelling out with irrelevant or harmful distractions,” Mishra explained.

“On this study, we desired to learn whether and the way climate trauma affected and altered cognitive and brain functions in a bunch of people that had experienced it throughout the Camp Fire. We found that those that were impacted, directly or not directly, displayed weaker interference processing. Such weakened cognitive performance may then impair day by day functioning and reduce well-being,” Mishra added.

Following the evaluation, it was found that 67% of the individuals directly exposed to the wildfire and 14% of those not directly exposed reported having experienced recent trauma.

The study hopes to guide efforts in developing therapeutic tools that may address the problems of people facing extreme climate exposures, like wildfires.

One other recent study found that fishing was a really effective technique to ease mental health issues. “Now we have been told on quite a few occasions by our service users that if it weren’t for the fishing sessions, they do not think they’d be alive today,” David Lyons, the founding father of angling organization, Tackling Minds, said. “To now have scientific evidence to back up what we have been saying all along, is unbelievable, to say the least.”