![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.dailybigdigit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot_20260115-200402__01.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\u201cWe rebuild roads after climate disasters, but we rarely rebuild the minds that were broken along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By Fatimah Bint-e-Nafeez<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Climate Disasters Break Minds, Not Just Homes\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking about the climate change in Pakistan, we nearly always discuss numbers: warmer temperatures, floods statistics, hectares of crops destroyed, or billions of economic losses. What I have observed is that although these numbers are front and center in the news stories, not discussed is something much more personal and harmful the emotional and psychological price of living in a climate that is increasingly starting to feel unfriendly. I frequently wonder why we talk so simply of ruined roads and fallen houses, and are afraid to mention broken minds and unremitting fear and silent desperation. In my case, the issue of climate change is no longer about a mere environmental problem, but it is very personal, since the impacts are influencing the way individuals think, feel and manage their day to day lives in this nation.<\/p>\n
I recall my experience of being at my computer screen watching the floods that happened in 2022 in a weird state of helplessness and guilt. Whole villages were submerged, families were displaced, and children were sleeping on top of the air. This is what I had remembered not just the physical damage but also the faces of people that were tired, disoriented and in a state of emotional numbness. Those sentiments did not fade away long after the floods had subsided. Trauma is not as timely as disaster relief. Post-traumatic stress lurks around, anxiety, depression are others that are just mute in our society where mental health is never openly discussed. I believe that by not taking this invisible suffering into consideration, we are robbing people two times first by exposing them to the effects of climate disaster and then dumping them into a state of emotional emptiness.<\/p>\n
RESOURCE: PAKISTAN FLOODS 2022<\/p>\n
https:\/\/thedocs.worldbank.org\/en\/doc\/4a0114eb7d1cecbbbf2f65c5ce0789db-0310012022\/original\/Pakistan-Floods-2022-PDNA-Main-Report.pdf<\/p>\n
Residing in Pakistan is a life of living under the uncertainty of the environment. Heat waves come sooner and can be prolonged and this makes daily living a pressure on the mind. I have experienced myself the impatience, the lack of concentration, the awkward fatigue caused by the heat. I can now think how it would be like to work outside, stay in overcrowded housing, or have unreliable electricity. Constant heating does not only feel uncomfortable, but it gradually wears out the emotional equilibrium. It multiplies aggressiveness, intensifies stress and survival becomes a psychological struggle that has to be fought day in day out. However, we can scarcely consider heat as a mental health trigger despite the fact that its impacts are inscribed in our cities every summer.<\/p>\n
The most distressing fact is that climate change is endangering lives and, consequently, dignity and meaning to people. Farming in rural Pakistan is not only a job, it is also a legacy that is given down the line. In the case of failure of crops caused by the unreliable rainfall or extended droughts, the loss is not just monetary. It instills shame, despair and self-incompetence. I imagine the thoughts of young people who have to live in such circumstances, with the problem of unemployment and social pressure already weighing them down, only to be now also afraid of the fact that the future itself is not so stable. Climate anxiety is a term that is scarcely used, but it is increasingly becoming a collective emotional experience, particularly amongst the young people. I fear that we are creating a generation that would be caught between a crumbling world and mediocre expectations.<\/p>\n
Women and children, have the greatest psychological load of climate change, and their misery can remain mostly unseen. In case of disasters, women have to keep families united, look after children, allocate limited resources, and suffer displacement in addition to repressed trauma. Children, however, absorb instability without uttering a word. In the case of schools being destroyed, routines interfering with their homes gone, their feeling of safety disintegrates. I tend to believe that these early fears and losses are having an influence on how they develop emotionally, and I am worried that we are not viewing the long-term effects with the gravity that they deserve. The worst part is that our mental health system is so unprepared to deal with this increased crisis. At this point, Pakistan already has limited mental health resources; so the psychological distress associated with climate changes is hardly recognized, neither in policy nor disaster planning. We deliver food and tents but seldom do we offer counseling or psychological first aid. The stigma that surrounds mental health is yet to be changed and seen as an individual rather a societal problem. I am disturbed by the fact that we can invest in the restoration of infrastructure and are reluctant to invest in emotional resiliency restoration.<\/p>\n
In my mind, it is not possible to discuss climate change without mentioning mental health, and, quite honestly, it is irresponsible. Climate resilience simply is more than building tougher embankments or improved warning mechanisms; it is about planning psychologically on how to survive, adjust and heal. I think that we should incorporate the idea of mental health support when developing climate response strategies, educate community professionals to identify signs of psychological distress, and develop the environment where individuals will not be ashamed or afraid to discuss the issue of trauma. Education is no exception, as it can be used not only to educate people on climate science, but on emotional coping, empathy, and shared responsibility. It has got me thinking as to whether I am worried about those who are actually on the ground because of floods or heat waves or it is because of the type of society we are turning into. A culture that disregards mental suffering will run the danger of being emotionally numb, retaliatory and fragmented. The issue of climate change is compelling us to face awkward facts, not only on our environment, but also on our priorities.<\/p>\n
Personally, I would consider the recognition of the mental health impact of climate change to be an act of honesty. It is not the consideration of unseen pain but the avoidance of it. We have to ensure that the minds are taken care of as much as we are taking care of land, in case we genuinely require a sustainable future of Pakistan, we shall never require healing the climate but not people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized that climate change was no longer an environmental issue when it began affecting how people sleep, think and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWe rebuild roads after climate disasters, but we rarely rebuild the minds that were broken along the way.\u201d By Fatimah Bint-e-Nafeez \u201cWhen Climate Disasters Break Minds, Not Just Homes\u201d Speaking about the climate change in Pakistan, we nearly always discuss numbers: warmer temperatures, floods statistics, hectares of crops destroyed, or billions of economic losses. What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":56937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,33,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-news","category-national-news","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailybigdigit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailybigdigit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailybigdigit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailybigdigit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailybigdigit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailybigdigit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailybigdigit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailybigdigit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailybigdigit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailybigdigit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}