Eco-psychiatry and Environmental Conservation: Study from Sundarban Delta, India

This study attempts to examine the extent and impact of human-animal conflicts visa-vis psychosocial stressors and mental health of affected people in two villages adjacent to Sundarban Reserve Forest (SRF) in the Gosaba Block, West Bengal, India.

Door to door household survey for incidents of human-animal conflicts, Focus Group Discussions, In-depth Interviews, Case studies, Community Mental health clinics and participatory observation.

A total of 3084 households covering a population of 16,999 were surveyed. 32.8% people live on forest-based occupation. During the last 15 years 111 persons (male 83, female 28) became victims of animal attacks, viz, Tiger (82%), Crocodile (10.8%) and Shark (7.2%) of which 73.9% died. In 94.5% cases the conflict took place in and around the SRF during livelihood activities. Tracking of 66 widows, resulted from these conflicts, showed that majority of them (51.%) are either disabled or in a very poor health condition, 40.9% are in extreme economic stress and only 10.6% remarried. 1 widow committed suicide and 3 attempted suicide. A total of 178 persons (male 82, female 96) attended the community mental health clinics. Maximum cases were Major Depressive Disorder (14.6%), followed by Somatoform Pain Disorder (14.0%), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder-animal attack related (9.6%) and Adjustment Disorder (9%). 11.2% cases had history of deliberate self-harm attempt, of which 55% used pesticides.

Improvement of quality of life of this deltaic population by appropriate income generation and proper bio-forest management are the key factors to save their life as well as the mangrove environment of the Sundarban region.