Examining Climate Change Impacts on Inuit Mental Health in Nunatsiavut, Labrador
“It’s so hard to put tangible figures to it:” Examining Climate Change Impacts on Inuit Mental Health in Nunatsiavut, Labrador by Jacqueline Middleton A Thesis presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Population Medicine Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Jacqueline Middleton, August, 2020 ABSTRACT “IT’S SO HARD TO PUT TANGIBLE FIGURES TO IT:” EXAMINING CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON INUIT MENTAL HEALTH IN NUNATSIAVUT, LABRADOR Jacqueline Middleton Advisors: University of Guelph, 2020 Dr. Sherilee L. Harper Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo Dr. Andria Bitton-Jones Transformational climate change across the Circumpolar North is disrupting Indigenous Peoples’ access to land, sea, and ice, leading to emotional distress, interpersonal stress, anxiety, depression, substance use, and increased use of mental health services. While there are strong theoretical understandings of the mechanisms that link climate and mental health, there is relatively little known about how the mental health of the most climate-sensitive populations is being impacted. Therefore, this research used a community-driven population health approach to examine how weather and seasonality impacts Inuit mental health in Nunatsiavut, Labrador, Canada in the context of climate change. First, a scoping review explored global Indigenous climate-mental health relationships. This review characterized the ways in which the emotional and psychological impacts of climate are connected to changing place attachment, disrupted cultural continuity, forced human mobility, and intangible loss and damages. Then, to characterize the lived experiences of climate impacts on Inuit mental health, in-depth interviews from across Nunatsiavut (n=116 interviews) were analysed. Results indicated that weather impacted mental wellness through: shaping daily lived experiences including connection to place; altering mood and emotion on a transient basis; and seasonally influencing individual and community wellbeing.
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