Home‐Country Natural Disasters and Mental Health of Migrants*

Abstract

While natural disasters cause loss of life and worsen health in the local areas they impact, the overall health impacts of these disasters can be more widespread. Using linked administrative and survey data (the 45 and Up Study) from Australia, a country where one in four residents was born overseas, we show that migrant mental health is significantly affected by home‐country natural disasters. In the 3 months following a disaster, mental health related drug use and visits to mental health specialists increase by 7% and 34%, respectively. The effects persist for up to 12 months after the initial shock. To place these effects in context we provide suggestive comparisons to the impacts of home‐country terrorist attacks and macroeconomic shocks on mental health, and also compare the effects on mental health to physical health conditions of migrants.