Ex-Cyclone Alfred is bringing significant rainfall to southeast Queensland and the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. Flooding has hit Lismore, Ballina, Grafton, Brisbane and Hervey Bay, which received 150 mm of rainfall in two hours this morning.

Tragically, a 61-year-old man died after being swept away in floodwaters near Dorrigo in northern New South Wales.

More heavy rain and flash flooding is expected in the coming days as the weather system moves inland and weakens.

Climate change is making these weather events more intense and frequent. Earlier this year, far north Queensland experienced major flooding. As residents of the Northern Rivers, this latest disaster is especially tough because only three years ago we faced the catastrophic 2022 floods.

We’ve studied the impact of floods on human health and wellbeing, and found floods are linked to a range of physical and mental health effects in both the short- and long-term.

So what might you experience if you live in an area affected by these floods?

We reviewed the evidence

We recently reviewed research on the physical and mental health impacts of floods across mainland Australia. We included 69 studies in our review, published over 70 years. The majority were from the past ten years, examining the effects of floods in Queensland and NSW.

These studies suggest people can expect a range of health impacts. Immediate physical health effects of floods include drowning, falls and injuries.

Chronic diseases such as diabetes or renal disease can also worsen due to factors such as reduced access to transport, health-care services, medications and hospitals.

Exposure to contaminated floodwaters can lead to skin infections, while respiratory problems can occur due to mould and damp housing in the aftermath of floods.

Floods also create ideal conditions for mosquito borne infections such as Ross River virus and Murray Valley encephalitis, while also spreading infectious diseases including leptospirosis, a bacterial infection from contaminated soil.

There are mental health consequences too

Our review showed floods also affect mental health. The more you’re exposed to floodwaters in your home or business, the worse the mental health impacts are likely to be.

The After the Flood study examined mental health and wellbeing outcomes six months after the 2017 flood in the Northern Rivers. It found people who had floodwater in their home, yard or business, or who were displaced from their home for a more than six months, were much more likely to have probable post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression, compared to those who didn’t experience flooding or weren’t displaced.

Repeated natural disasters could compound these mental health consequences. Southeast Queensland and the Northern Rivers in NSW have experienced multiple disasters over recent years. The Northern Rivers faced major flooding in 2017, bushfires in 2020, further major floods in 2022, and now Cyclone Alfred in 2025. These repeated disasters have taken a toll on our community, creating a seemingly never-ending cycle of recovery, rebuilding and preparation for the next disaster.

Our understanding of the unique challenges faced by communities which experience multiple disasters is still growing. However, a recent Australian study showed exposure to repeated disasters has a compounding effect on people’s mental health, leading to worse mental health outcomes compared to people who experience a single disaster.

Mums and babies

The health effects of floods extend far beyond the initial emergency and beyond the infections and mental health consequences you might expect.

The Queensland Flood Study tracked pregnant women exposed to the 2011 Brisbane floods. Researchers assessed mothers’ stress related to the flood and tracked them and their children at six weeks old, six months, 16 months, 2.5 years, four and six years. It found some links between prenatal stress and developmental outcomes in children.

While the health effects after flooding are diverse, the research to date is not comprehensive. We need to learn more about how floods contribute to or exacerbate existing chronic illnesses, disability and long-term mental health issues.

The impacts are inequitable

Flooding exposes and worsens existing inequalities. Socially vulnerable groups are more likely to be exposed to flooding in their homes and have less access to resources to respond and recover from these events, putting some groups at higher risk of negative health impacts afterwards.

Some research has looked at the disproportionate impacts on people with disabilities and their carers, First Nations communities and people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

After the 2017 Northern Rivers floods, for example, people with disability and their carers were more likely than others to:

• experience disrupted access to food, support networks and essentials such as health care and social services
• continue to be distressed about the flood six months after it happened
• be at relatively high risk of post-traumatic stress disorder six months after the flood.

However, targeted flood research exploring the experiences of these vulnerable groups in Australia is limited.

Moving forward, it’s vital we examine the varied impacts of flood events for more vulnerable groups, so we can better support them in the wake of devastating events such as Cyclone Alfred.

If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Jodie Bailie, Senior Research Fellow, The University Centre for Rural Health and The Centre for Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney; Jo Longman, Senior Research Fellow, The University Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney; Rebecca McNaught, Research Fellow, Rural and Remote Health, University of Sydney, and Ross Bailie, School of Public Health, Honorary Professor, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

If your summer holiday already feels like a distant memory, you’re not alone. Burnout – a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion following prolonged stress – has been described in workplaces since a 5th century monastery in Egypt.

Burnout and depression can look similar and are relatively common conditions. It’s estimated that 30% of the Australian workforce is feeling some level of burnout, while almost 20% of Australians are diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives.

So what’s the difference between burnout and depression?

Burnout is marked by helplessness and depression by hopelessness. They can have different causes and should also be managed differently.

What is burnout?

The World Health Organization defines burnout as an “occupational phenomenon” resulting from excessively demanding workload pressures. While it is typically associated with the workplace, carers of children or elderly parents with demanding needs are also at risk.

Our research created a set of burnout symptoms we captured in the Sydney Burnout Measure to assist self-diagnosis and clinicians undertaking assessments. They include:

• exhaustion as the primary symptom
• brain fog (poor concentration and memory)
• difficulty finding pleasure in anything
• social withdrawal
• an unsettled mood (feeling anxious and irritable)
• impaired work performance (this may be result of other symptoms such as fatigue).

People can develop a “burning out” phase after intense work demands over only a week or two. A “burnout” stage usually follows years of unrelenting work pressure.

What is depression?

A depressive episode involves a drop in self-worth, increase in self-criticism and feelings of wanting to give up. Not everyone with these symptoms will have clinical depression, which requires a diagnosis and has an additional set of symptoms.

Clinically diagnosed depression can vary by mood, how long it lasts and whether it comes back. There are two types of clinical depression:

1. melancholic depression has genetic causes, with episodes largely coming “out of the blue”
2. non-melancholic depression is caused by environmental factors, often triggered by significant life events which cause a drop in self-worth.

When we created our burnout measure, we compared burnout symptoms with these two types of depression.

Burnout shares some features with melancholic depression, but they tend to be general symptoms, such as feeling a loss of pleasure, energy and concentration skills.

We found there were more similarities between burnout and non-melancholic (environmental) depression. This included a lack of motivation and difficulties sleeping or being cheered up, perhaps reflecting the fact both have environmental causes.

Looking for the root cause

The differences between burnout and depression become clearer when we look at why they happen.

Personality comes into play. Our work suggests a trait like perfectionism puts people at a much higher risk of burnout. But they may be less likely to become depressed as they tend to avoid stressful events and keep things under control.

Those with burnout generally feel overwhelmed by demands or deadlines they can’t meet, creating a sense of helplessness.

On the other hand, those with depression report lowered self-esteem. So rather than helpless they feel that they and their future is hopeless.

However it is not uncommon for someone to experience both burnout and depression at once. For example, a boss may place excessive work demands on an employee, putting them at risk of burnout. At the same time, the employer may also humiliate that employee and contribute to an episode of non-melancholic depression.

What can you do?

A principal strategy in managing burnout is identifying the contributing stressors. For many people, this is the workplace. Taking a break, even a short one, or scheduling some time off can help.

Australians now have the right to disconnect, meaning they don’t have to answer work phone calls or emails after hours. Setting boundaries can help separate home and work life.

Burnout can be also be caused by compromised work roles, work insecurity or inequity. More broadly, a dictatorial organisational structure can make employees feel devalued. In the workplace, environmental factors, such as excessive noise, can be a contributor. Addressing these factors can help prevent burnout.

As for managing symptoms, the monks had the right idea. Strenuous exercise, meditation and mindfulness are effective ways to deal with everyday stress.

Deeper contributing factors, including traits such as perfectionism, should be managed by a skilled clinical psychologist.

For melancholic depression, clinicians will often recommend antidepressant medication.

For non-melancholic depression, clinicians will help address and manage triggers that are the root cause. Others will benefit from antidepressants or formal psychotherapy.

While misdiagnosis between depression and burnout can occur, burnout can mimic other medical conditions such as anemia or hypothyroidism.

For the right diagnosis, it’s best to speak to your doctor or clinician who should seek to obtain a sense of “the whole picture”. Only then, once a burnout diagnosis has been affirmed and other possible causes ruled out, should effective support strategies be put in place.

If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Correction: This article originally stated that depression is marked by helplessness and burnout by hopelessness, when in fact it is vice versa. This has been amended.

Gordon Parker, Scientia Professor of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.