How power outages can affect mental health

It’s been two weeks since Hurricane Maria swept through Puerto Rico, plunging it into darkness. Today, around 95% of Puerto Rico’s electric grid remains down, and that outage could last for months.

Being without power comes with obvious physical health risks, especially for hospitals and nursing homes, which rely on power for dialysis and oxygen machines, refrigerated insulin medication and more. Being in the dark impairs safety and security, too.