Angry, Scared, and Unsure: Mental Health Consequences of Contaminated Water in Flint, Michigan.

Courtney A Cuthbertson,Cathy Newkirk,Joan Ilardo,Mark Skidmore,Scott Loveridge

doi:10.1007/s11524-016-0089-y

Courtney A Cuthbertson, Cathy Newkirk + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-016-0089-y

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Abstract

Natural and manmade crises impact community-level behavioral health, including mental health and substance use. This article shares findings from a larger project about community behavioral health, relevant to the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan, using data from a larger study, involving monthly surveys of a panel of key informants from Genesee County. The data come from open-response questions and are analyzed as qualitative data using grounded theory techniques. Although respondents were not asked about the water issues in Flint, participants commented that the water situation was increasing stress, anxiety, and depression among the city’s population. Participants thought these mental health issues would affect the entire community but would be worse among low-income, African American populations in the city. Mental health consequences were related not only to the water contamination but to distrust of public officials who are expected and have the authority to resolve the issues. The mental health effects of this public health crisis are significant and have received inadequate attention in the literature. Public health response to situations similar to the water issues in Flint should include sustained attention mental health.

Highlights

The built environment can affect mental health directly through factors such as housing quality and indirectly through factors such as a sense of personal control over one’s surroundings.[1]
The number of responses to the open-response questions and the number about water varied over the course of the 12 surveys but notably increased starting at survey 6 which was administered in October 2015 after Michigan state officials first publicly acknowledged that there was a problem with the water in Flint
Through the application of grounded theory coding and analysis techniques, the mental health concerns arising most clearly from the data are that the water situation has created and increased stress and anxiety for residents of Flint

Summary

Introduction

The built environment can affect mental health directly through factors such as housing quality and indirectly through factors such as a sense of personal control over one’s surroundings.[1]. People who experience shocks from natural or manmade disasters have higher rates of mental illness, including major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder.[5,6,7] Neighborhoods with higher collective efficacy generally have better reported overall health[8] and better mental health outcomes in the face of natural disasters.[9, 10]

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