Flint Is Still Shaken by its Water Crisis —and Residents Are Experiencing Long-Term Mental-Health Issues

The Jackson, Mississippi, water crisis this summer is a troubling reminder that some American communities are still failing to provide safe water to their residents. After Jackson’s primary water treatment plant failed, around 180,000 people were left with little or no sanitary water. It was reminiscent of the crisis in Flint, Michigan, which rose to broad public awareness in 2015, when residents learned that they’d been poisoned for months by drinking water containing bacteria, disinfectant byproducts, and lead. The crisis is far from a distant memory in Flint. According to a new survey of nearly 2,000 adult community members published in JAMA Network Open on Sept. 20, residents were still struggling from the enduring mental health impact of the crisis, five years later. After conducting a survey from 2019 to 2020, the researchers estimated that in the year before the survey, about one in five Flint residents presumptively experienced major depression, while a quarter had PTSD, and one in 10 had both illnesses. Those who believed that they or their families were hurt by the contaminated water were significantly more likely to be affected. The authors note that lead itself can impact mental health, including mood. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Flint residents, who are largely low-income and people of color, were already vulnerable to mental-health issues, including because of systemic racism, a shortage of quality affordable housing, and widespread ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Public Health Source Type: news