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<\/div>Across the Hindu Kush Himalayas, communities are suffering the impacts of climate change, especially in the past two decades. In Ghizer alone, thousands of residents have experienced flash floods and landslides that destroy roads, farms, homes and other buildings. This is leading to mental health issues \u2013 something residents do not speak about in public for fear of social stigma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 2021 study<\/a> in the northern mountains of Pakistan found that communities in the region have \u201cinsufficient or no alternatives to cope and to reduce the adverse impacts posed by natural stresses\u201d. The study looked at 10 Gilgit-Baltistan districts with a long history of climate-induced hazards. It placed Ghizer among the three most vulnerable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Furrukh Bashir, regional head of the Pakistan Meteorological Department in Gilgit-Baltistan, said these calamities were just a prelude. \u201cEven the slightest change in temperature can play havoc with the fragile mountain ecology,\u201d he told The Third Pole<\/a>, speaking over the phone from Gilgit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cImagine living with the impending fear that you can be marooned and without healthcare, food and electricity,\u201d said Javed Iqbal, who has been working with an NGO for over a decade on the maternal and mental health of Ghizer residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iqbal says there is a link between climate change and mental health issues, and has observed many people suffering from anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A six-hour jeep ride on a dirt track from Badswat brings you to Darkut village. Nusrat Ali Khan, a 45-year-old paramedic at Darkut\u2019s only government-run clinic, confirmed that mental distress in this village of about 1,000 people is widespread. With flooding a \u201cregular feature\u201d since 2010, he said the community lives with the constant fear of when the next flood will strike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Khan talked about seeing \u201csigns of depression\u201d among villagers. \u201cThey complain of sleeplessness and talk only about their living conditions, their livestock and the lost land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI counsel them, tell them to go see a psychologist in Gilgit [53 kilometres away], but they never do,\u201d he added. \u201cI don\u2019t blame them; it\u2019s expensive and time-consuming.\u201d In the absence of anything else, he ends up giving them sleeping pills or relaxants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wary of labelling anyone but having witnessed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Iqbal pointed out that it can develop in people who have experienced dangerous events that have disrupted their lives. Years after the disaster at Badswat, he sees people sitting \u201cidle near the lake, gazing into the water\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like Parveen of AKRSP, Iqbal believes residents should leave. \u201cAll they think about and talk about is the calamity that befell them; they need to be taken far from the scene of devastation,\u201d he suggested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey have lost their homes, their land and all their assets. Their present living conditions are harsher without wood or electricity,\u201d said Iqbal, adding that several micro hydropower plants destroyed in the flood are still being repaired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parveen said: \u201cCompared to the vast land they once had, for the last three years they are living in small one-room shelters where they sleep, cook and store their belongings, just a short distance from their flooded home.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Climatologist Bashir witnessed similar trauma during the 2010 Attabad lake disaster<\/a>, in the Gojal region of Hunza Valley in Gilgit-Baltistan. Living there for two months to set up a weather station at the Passu glacier, he saw the \u201cpain and stress\u201d on the faces of peoples whose homes, land and orchards went under water \u201cright before their eyes\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bashir pointed out that relocation comes at a huge social price, as it means giving up \u201clong-formed affiliations and associations\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the effects of trauma, of particular concern is a rise in suicides<\/a>, especially among young women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Local journalist Durdana Sher has been documenting this situation since 2005. \u201cThere are more cases of suicide being reported from this district [of Ghizer] compared to any other part of Gilgit-Baltistan,\u201d he said. Between 2006 and 2017, he reported on 203 suicides in Ghizer. There are no publicly available records from a previous period, but local doctors say the numbers used to be far lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While there are many reasons for suicide, Sher acknowledged the potentially grave impact of climate-induced devastations \u201cwhere entire villages are hit by a calamity and you lose your family, your home and are relocated\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sher stopped reporting on suicides in 2017, after community elders said it was \u201cgiving a bad name to our region\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Iqbal and his team have carried out extensive research on suicides in Ghizer and have developed a \u201clife skill\u201d manual to help young people cope in times of adversity. No suicide has been reported from the district since 2019, Iqbal added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said it was urgent the government recognises that climate change impacts have serious mental health consequences and to work towards reducing trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The government should have seen all this coming. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) had warned in a 2012 report<\/a> that global warming was making floods more frequent and intense. Most residents of Ghizer are unaware of that connection, but they do see the other major reason \u2013 tree felling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe cutting of trees to meet the needs of a constantly increasing population has made the soil loose and vulnerable,\u201d said Bashir. He added that the soil erosion is worsened by the water channels people dig to irrigate their farms. <\/p>\n\n\n\nLiving in fear of catastrophes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div>![\"Cattle](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/20220105_4-Darkut-Nusrat_Ali-Khan.jpg\")
<\/div>Rising rate of suicides<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
All they think about and talk about is the calamity that befell them; they need to be taken far from the scene of devastation<\/blockquote>Javed Iqbal<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Climate impacts are here already<\/h2>\n\n\n\n