Cape Town’s sewage treatment isn’t coping: scientists are worried about what the city is telling the public: Urban water bodies – rivers, lakes and oceans – are in trouble globally. Large sewage volumes damage the open environment, and new chemicals and pharmaceutical compounds don’t break down on their own. When they are released into the …
Senegal’s remote Bassari people talk about climate change, and how their local knowledge is key to coping strategies: The Bassari people, a farming community of about 20,000 people, live in an area between Senegal and Guinea. During French colonial rule, the Bassari lost part of their communal land to a national park and were subjected …
PhD students’ mental health is poor and the pandemic made it worse – but there are coping strategies that can help: ESB Professional/Shutterstock A pre-pandemic study on PhD students’ mental health showed that they often struggle with such issues. Financial insecurity and feelings of isolation can be among the factors affecting students’ wellbeing. The pandemic …
Bad hangovers? Why genetics, personality and coping mechanisms can make a difference: Even if you drink the same amount, it's likely your hangover will be different from your friends. Prostock-studio/ Shutterstock After a good night out you may not be surprised when you wake up feeling rough the next morning. But what may surprise you …
West Africa’s fisher women are experts at coping with job insecurity – but policymakers are using their resilience against them: A large number of West African women rely on the blue economy to survive MaaikeZaal/GettyImages All along West Africa’s coastline, women play a vital role in the fisheries sector as processors, traders and distributors. But …
Cost of living: the unhealthy coping strategies which are likely to rise as energy bills soar – plus how to get help: Vlaimages/Shutterstock The burden of very high energy prices does not fall evenly across society. The most vulnerable customers are more likely to be on the most expensive tariffs because they’re more likely to …
Farmers displaced by conflict in north central Nigeria share their coping strategies: Members of displaced farming communities often end up in internally displaced persons camp like this one in Maiduguri, Borno State. Photo by Fati Abubakar/AFP via Getty Images One of the unpleasant outcomes of the perennial conflict between farmers and herders in Nigeria is …
Child mental health: how acting out during COVID can be a coping mechanism, and what parents can do to help: Sometimes resistance – or rebellion – is the only way a child feels able to respond to a difficult situation PR Image Factory / Shutterstock Over the past decade resilience has become a societal buzzword, both a personality …
Six tips for coping when the news is getting to you: Bad news. Shutterstock/WAYHOME studio It can often feel difficult to escape a bad news story. The news plays a prominent role in our lives, something that has been emphasised even further during the past year. The pandemic has brought with it daily news briefings …
Small things can save lives: coping with COVID-19 in resource-scarce hospitals: “We saw patients dying for avoidable reasons. They were dying because masks that came loose were not being replaced,” says MSF COVID-19 intervention nursing activities manager, Caroline Masunda. Chris Allan Everywhere, patients have died from COVID-19 when patient numbers exceeded the capacity of the …
Why living in the future, rather than the past, is key to coping with lockdowns – new research: Daydreaming in lockdown? Keep it future focussed. fizkes/Shutterstock The COVID-19 pandemic has created a tough year for people across the globe, with billions facing at least one lockdown. And it’s not over – there may be further …
Why resilience isn’t always the answer to coping with challenging times: The word “resilience” has been used frequently throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Medics, business leaders and teachers have all been encouraged to build resilience in order to address the needs of their communities. However, advocating resilience in the current context may not be the best …
Coping with COVID-19 need not derail progress against rabies: The canine vaccine is inexpensive and prevents transmission to people. Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images Before the emergence of the newest animal-borne disease, COVID-19, the world was in the last mile of eliminating one of the oldest animal-borne diseases – rabies. For around 4,000 years, humanity has been …
How animals are coping with the global ‘weirding’ of the Earth’s seasons: Yellow-bellied marmots are a North American species of ground squirrel. Fremme/Shutterstock The UK’s weather did a somersault in the first half of 2020, as the wettest February on record gave way to the sunniest spring. Climate change has warped the environmental conditions that …
The coping mechanisms the DRC is putting in place as it faces Ebola, measles and COVID-19: A child receives a vaccine against Ebola from a nurse in Goma on August 7, 2019. AUGUSTIN WAMENYA/AFP via Getty Images Ebola, a viral haemorrhagic fever of humans and other primates, has become endemic in the Democratic Republic of …
How psychologists can help people coping with life threatening food allergies: Shutterstock/photographee.eu Food allergies have a big impact on people’s quality of life. The stress and worry of having a potentially life-threatening reaction can result in the need for some families to seek help from a psychologist. Unfortunately, only a few allergy clinics in the …
How EU families in Britain are coping with Brexit uncertainty: Shutterstock Mirela left Croatia in 1991 because of the civil war in Yugoslavia. Her husband Frank grew up in the Republic of Ireland. Both are worried Brexit has left a deep scar through British society, one that it will take years to heal. They also …
Ghana must move from coping with floods, to adapting for them: Ghana has at least one one major flood disaster every year. chunya2009/Flickr Ghana has a serious flood problem. Over about 50 years, 4 million people have been affected by floods, resulting in economic damage exceeding USD$ 780 million. At least one major flood disaster …