Climate change and mental health: risks, impacts and priority actions

Katie Hayes,L Reifels,S Burke,J Wiseman,G Blashki

doi:10.1186/s13033-018-0210-6

Abstract

BackgroundThis article provides an overview of the current and projected climate change risks and impacts to mental health and provides recommendations for priority actions to address the mental health consequences of climate change.Discussion and conclusionThe authors argue the following three points: firstly, while attribution of mental health outcomes to specific climate change risks remains challenging, there are a number of opportunities available to advance the field of mental health and climate change with more empirical research in this domain; secondly, the risks and impacts of climate change on mental health are already rapidly accelerating, resulting in a number of direct, indirect, and overarching effects that disproportionally affect those who are most marginalized; and, thirdly, interventions to address climate change and mental health need to be coordinated and rooted in active hope in order to tackle the problem in a holistic manner. This discussion paper concludes with recommendations for priority actions to address the mental health consequences of climate change.

Highlights

This article provides an overview of the current and projected climate change risks and impacts to mental health and provides recommendations for priority actions to address the mental health consequences of climate change
We argue the following three points: firstly, while attribution of mental health outcomes to specific climate change risks remains challenging, there are a number of opportunities available to advance the field of mental health and climate change with more empirical research in this domain; secondly, the risks and impacts of climate change on mental health are already rapidly accelerating, resulting in a number of direct, indirect, and overarching effects that
Key challenges of attributing climate change to mental health Attribution related to climate change and mental health can be challenging for four key reasons: firstly, there is a risk of pathologising common transitory distress responses to abnormal events and underdiagnosing mental health effects of a changing climate; secondly, there is a wide array of potential climate change and mental health outcomes related to a changing climate; thirdly, there is substantial scope with respect to the timing of the climate change effects on mental health, causal links become harder to determine; and attribution related to climate change and mental health is not well understood because of the complex interaction between mental health and other social determinants of health

Summary

Discussion and conclusion

The authors argue the following three points: firstly, while attribution of mental health outcomes to specific climate change risks remains challenging, there are a number of opportunities available to advance the field of mental health and climate change with more empirical research in this domain; secondly, the risks and impacts of climate change on mental health are already rapidly accelerating, resulting in a number of direct, indirect, and overarching effects that disproportionally affect those who are most marginalized; and, thirdly, interventions to address climate change and mental health need to be coordinated and rooted in active hope in order to tackle the problem in a holistic manner. This discussion paper concludes with recommendations for priority actions to address the mental health consequences of climate change.

Background

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion