Department of Neurosciences, Section of Psychiatry, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
Provincial Agency for Health Services, Institute of the Autonomous Province of Trento, Mezzolombardo, Italy.
Yale J Biol Med. 2023 Jun 30;96(2):211-226. doi: 10.59249/EARX2427. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Human activities like greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and deforestation are largely responsible for climate change and biodiversity loss. The climate is a complex system and scientists are striving to predict, prevent, and address the aforementioned issues in order to avoid reaching tipping points. The threat to humankind is not only physical (ie, heat waves, floods, droughts) but also psychological, especially for some groups. Insecurity, danger, chaos, and an unstable system due to climate change have both short- and long-term psychological effects. In this scenario, the need for new psychological categories is emerging, namely, eco-emotions and psychoterratic syndromes which include eco-anxiety, ecological grief, climate worry, and climate trauma. This paper focuses on these new categories, presenting a summary of each one, including definitions, hypotheses, questions, and testological evaluations, as a useful tool to be consulted by researchers and clinicians and to help them in the therapeutic work. Also, this paper endeavors to distinguish between a psychological stress resulting in a positive outcome, such as pro-environmental behavior, compared to a stress that leads to a psychopathology. Prevention and intervention strategies including social and community support are fundamental to help cope with and mitigate the effect of climate change on mental health. In conclusion, the climate crisis has led to an enormous increase in research on climate change and its consequences on mental health. Researchers and clinicians must be prepared to assess this complex phenomenon and provide help to those who cannot cope with anxiety and climatic mourning.
人类活动，如温室气体排放、污染和森林砍伐，是气候变化和生物多样性丧失的主要原因。气候是一个复杂的系统，科学家们正在努力预测、预防和解决上述问题，以避免达到临界点。对人类的威胁不仅是物理上的（如热浪、洪水、干旱），还有心理上的，特别是对某些群体。由于气候变化导致的不安全、危险、混乱和不稳定的系统既有短期的，也有长期的心理影响。在这种情况下，需要出现新的心理类别，即生态情感和心理地理综合征，包括生态焦虑、生态悲伤、气候担忧和气候创伤。本文重点介绍了这些新的类别，对每个类别进行了总结，包括定义、假设、问题和测试评估，作为研究人员和临床医生咨询的有用工具，帮助他们进行治疗工作。此外，本文还努力区分导致积极结果的心理压力，如有利于环境的行为，与导致心理病理的压力。预防和干预策略，包括社会和社区支持，是应对和减轻气候变化对心理健康影响的基础。总之，气候危机导致了对气候变化及其对心理健康影响的研究的大量增加。研究人员和临床医生必须准备好评估这一复杂现象，并为那些无法应对焦虑和气候哀悼的人提供帮助。
