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increasing the temperature of the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere, leading to more intense storms of all types, including
hurricanes. However, natural disasters are deadlier and costlier than man-made disasters. In 2015, 6994 people were killed
in man-made disasters, while 19,365 lives were lost to natural disasters. The economic losses incurred due to natural and
man-made disasters in 2015 were USD80 billion and USD12 billion, respectively (Swiss Re, 2016).
Natural disasters have had multifarious ruinous impacts, invariably affecting the rich and the poor, the developed countries,
and developing countries. However, natural disasters are more hazardous to low-income countries in particular, as they lead
to long-term damages and resources are heavily diverted for reconstruction purposes (Johnson, 2006). Furthermore, low-
income countries are more vulnerable as a higher proportion of people stay in areas that have poor infrastructure, and the
lack of access to basic facilities heightens their exposure to disasters. Between 1994 and 2013, the Asian continent had the
highest frequency of natural disasters and the greatest number of lives lost due to disasters. This is primarily due to the large
and varied landmass in Asia – multiple river basins, flood plains, mountains, and active seismic and volcanic zones that are
at high risk from natural hazards along with high population densities in disaster-prone areas. Nearly 48% of all disasters
worldwide occurred in Asia in 2014 and 85% of lives lost were also in the same continent (CRED, 2015).
Natural disasters affect millions of people every year and leave residents and communities devastated and completely
decimated. However, their impact is disproportionately more severe on the poor, farmers, and other marginalized groups
of the population. Natural disasters brutally affect the agricultural sector, impacting livelihoods, and food production.
With an approximate loss of USD80 billion owing to fall in crop production between 2003 and 2013, efforts toward
hunger eradication have been hindered as a consequence of disasters that have impacted livelihoods and food security of
over one-third of the developing countries (FAO, 2015). Statistics tend to count the lives lost and economic devastation
of these events, but it is not easy to quantify the psychological impacts of a disaster.
The people left in the wake of these events have lost their homes, loved ones, and sometimes an entire way of life. For
people already experiencing a mental illness, such a traumatic event makes symptoms even worse. For others, a natural
disaster can lead to depression, extreme stress, generalized anxiety, eating and food issues, obsessive-compulsion, and a
host of other problems. People are resilient – they begin to pick up the pieces of their lives and rebuild, but that does not
mean the effects of a natural disaster do not linger. Studies have drawn out the mental health effects of natural disasters
(McMichael, Woodruff, and Hales, 2006; Nahar, Blomstedt, Wu, et al., 2014). Evidence suggests that the psychological
impact of disasters is not restricted only to the people who have experienced it but also people involved in roles or
occupations that require them to respond to disasters, for example, people involved in rescue operations and relief work;
they are also susceptible to different psychological and mental stresses (Thormar, Gersons, Juen, et al., 2010; Brooks,
Dunn, Amlôt, et al., 2016).

1.1. Rationale
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The consequences of climate change on exposed biological
subjects, as well as on vulnerable societies, are a concern for the entire scientific community. Rising temperatures, heat
waves, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, fires, loss of forests, and glaciers, along with the disappearance of rivers and
desertification, can directly and indirectly cause human pathologies that are both physical and mental (Cianconi, Betrò, and
Janiri, 2020). However, there is a clear lack in psychiatric studies on mental disorders linked to climate change. India has also
been significantly affected by natural disasters over the years. Between 1994 and 2013, in terms of the cumulative number
of people affected by natural disasters, India figured among the top countries (CRED, 2015). India also figured among the
top five most disaster-hit countries in the past 10 years (Guha-Sapir, Hoyois, and Below, 2016). While a bound volume
of evidence is documented on impacts of disasters on physical health, livelihood, food security, water and sanitation, and
other socioeconomic dimensions in India, there is a dearth of studies on the impact of disasters on the mental health of the
population in the country. With the above scenarios, this review article primarily aims to explore the pathways through which
different natural disasters, which include heat waves, droughts, floods, cyclones, earthquakes, and landslides, impact the
mental health of disaster affected-exposed people in India. We also aim to investigate the coping and adaptation mechanism
of communities, as well as government strategies for tackling mental health impacts due to natural disasters, to suggest some
future policy recommendations for better and effective disaster management in the country. To understand the pathways
through which different natural disasters impact the mental health of people in India, we conducted a short review on theme.
2. Natural Disasters and Pathways to Mental Health

The expanding research literature on inter-linkages between climate change, natural disasters, and mental health includes
increasing evidence that extreme weather events – which are more frequent, intense, and complex under a changing

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