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Author:Dr Jyoti Kapoor, Senior Psychiatric
India
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New Delhi, November 15, 2022:
When the level of air pollution shoots up, graver issues happen to the body because of poor ambient air quality. And, mental health issues are one of them. Mental health across Delhi/NCR has registered a spike in mental health cases such as anxiety, depression and lowered stress tolerance in the last month.
Various studies have suggested that long-term exposure to PM (particulate matter known as PM 2.5) can cause inflammation in blood vessels and damage the blood-brain barrier – a thin, delicate membrane that protects the brain from toxic substances. Anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder are some of the impacts that air pollution has on mental health.
Dr Jyoti Kapoor, Founder, and Senior Psychiatric, Manasthali, said in the last month she has been getting a lot of cases of anxiety and depression, especially in vulnerable communities and working professions.
“Anything that impacts physical health also impacts mental health. With pollution rising in the environment, several studies have been conducted which show the direct and indirect impact of pollutants on mental well-being. The stress of physical issues like respiratory problems sleep disturbances, the haze in the air cutting off light which impacts neurotransmitters secretion in the brain and the direct biological impact of pollutants on the nervous system are some of the underlying pathogenesis. The poor AQI (air quality index) has shown to increase the incidence of anxiety, depression and personality disorders along with lowered stress tolerance,” Dr Kapoor said.
In such a scenario, reducing the exposure of the vulnerable population to PM alone by just a few units, to the World Health Organization’s annual limit of 10µg/m³, would cut the cases of mental health services significantly. But it’s not easy for people (especially working professionals) to avoid pollution. Reducing air pollution in cities needs communal action on a broad scale.
“The association between air pollution and depression cannot be ignored. Public policies and individual actions are essential to reduce the effect of air pollution. One should include creating green spaces for eliminating air toxins from home/ workplace, avoiding exercising near crowded roads and streets, and improving household ventilation by substituting low-emission cook stoves for traditional solid household fuel,” she added.
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