Heat stroke during long-term clozapine treatment: should we be concerned about hot weather?

161

Climate change is negatively impacting the mental health of populations. This scoping review aims to assess the available literature related to climate change and mental health across the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) five global research priorities for protecting human health from climate change. We conducted a scoping review to identify original research studies related to mental health and climate change using online academic databases. We assessed the quality of studies where appropriate assessment tools were available. We identified 120 original studies published between 2001 and 2020. Most studies were quantitative (n = 67), cross-sectional (n = 42), conducted in high-income countries (n = 87), and concerned with the first of the WHO global research priorities—assessing the mental health risks associated with climate change (n = 101). Several climate-related exposures, including heat, humidity, rainfall, drought, wildfires, and floods were associated with psychological distress, worsened mental health, and higher mortality among people with pre-existing mental health conditions, increased psychiatric hospitalisations, and heightened suicide rates. Few studies (n = 19) addressed the other four global research priorities of protecting health from climate change (effective interventions (n = 8); mitigation and adaptation (n = 7); improving decision-support (n = 3); and cost estimations (n = 1)). While climate change and mental health represents a rapidly growing area of research, it needs to accelerate and broaden in scope to respond with evidence-based mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change and Mental Health: A Scoping Review

Charlson

Ali

Benmarhnia

et al. 2021

161

“…Of the 31 included studies, the majority reported on heat events (39%, eight papers [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]; four case studies [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]), followed by floods (26%, seven papers [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]; one thesis [ 48 ]), wildfires (23%, seven papers [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]), wildfire and flooding (3%, one paper [ 56 ]), hurricanes (6%, one paper [ 57 ]; one thesis [ 58 ]), and droughts (3%, one paper [ 59 ]). The studies were conducted in nine different countries/regions: the USA (35%, n = 11) [ 30 , 32 , 41 , 42 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]; Canada (26%, n = 8) [ 38 , 44 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]; Italy (10%, n = 3) [ …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The studies were conducted in nine different countries/regions: the USA (35%, n = 11) [ 30 , 32 , 41 , 42 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]; Canada (26%, n = 8) [ 38 , 44 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]; Italy (10%, n = 3) [ 29 , 34 , 35 ]; Australia (6%, n = 2) [ 49 , 56 ]; Brazil (6%, n = 2) [ 36 , 37 ]; England (6%, n = 2) [ 33 , 43 ]; Hong Kong (3%, n = 1) [ 39 ]; South Korea (3%, n = 1) [ 31 ]; and Taiwan (3%, n = 1) [ 40 ] (rounding errors account for 2%). Twenty-six studies (84%) were quantitative [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 41 , 42 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ...…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A total of 16 categories of pre-existing mental health problems were identified: depression (48%, n = 15) [ 29 , 32 , 34 , 35 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 48 , 50 , 51 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]; non-specified (23%, n = 7) [ 32 , 35 , 49 , 50 , 52 , 56 , 59 ]; anxiety (19%, n = 6) [ 44 , 50 , 51 , 53 , 54 , 55 ]; aggregated (19%, n = 6) [ 30 , 31 , 33 , 35 , 46 , 47 ]; dementia (10%, n = 3) [ 33 , 35 , 43 ]; psychosis (10%, n = 3) [ 29 , 33 , 34 ]; schizophrenia (6%, n = 2) [ 37 , 40 ]; schizophrenia and comorbidities (6%, n = 2) [ 38 , 39 ]; personality disorders (6%, n = 2) [ 35 , 43 ]; substance misuse (6%, n = 2) [ 33 , 35 ]; mania and bipolar (3%, n = 1) [ 35 ]; attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (3%, n = 1) [ 58 ]; neurot...…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating the Health Impacts of Climate Change among People with Pre-Existing Mental Health Problems: A Scoping Review

Woodland

Ratwatte²,

Phalkey³

et al. 2023

Climate change is the greatest threat to global public health, although the impacts on mental health are relatively understudied. Furthermore, there is a lack of consensus about the effects of climate change on individuals with pre-existing mental health problems. This review aimed to identify the health impacts of climate change on people with pre-existing mental health problems. The search was conducted across three databases; studies were included if they involved participants who had mental health problem(s) before a climate-driven event and reported on health outcomes post-event. A total of thirty-one studies met the full inclusion criteria. The study characteristics included 6 climate-driven events: heat events, floods, wildfires, wildfire and flood, hurricanes, and droughts, and 16 categories of pre-existing mental health problems, with depression, and non-specified mental health problems being the most common. The majority of the studies (90%, n = 28) suggest an association between the presence of pre-existing mental health problems and the likelihood of adverse health impacts (e.g., increased mortality risk, new symptom presentation, and an exacerbation of symptoms). To mitigate the exacerbation of health inequalities, people with pre-existing mental health problems should be included in adaption guidance and/or plans that mitigate the health impacts of climate change, future policy, reports, and frameworks.

“…Higher risks have been identified in patients with developmental disorders and schizophrenia. Furthermore, heatwaves and extremely high temperatures have been associated with increased mortality in people suffering from mental illness [ 3 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Hence, research has shown that strong meteorological stimuli appear to exacerbate symptoms in people with mental disorder.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Foehn Wind on Mental Distress among Patients in a Swiss Psychiatric Hospital

Mikutta

Pervilhac

Znoj

et al. 2022

Psychiatric patients are particularly vulnerable to strong weather stimuli, such as foehn, a hot wind that occurs in the alps. However, there is a dearth of research regarding its impact on mental health. This study investigated the impact of foehn wind among patients of a psychiatric hospital located in a foehn area in the Swiss Alps. Analysis was based on anonymized datasets obtained from routine records on admission and discharge, including the Brief Symptom Checklist (BSCL) questionnaire, as well as sociodemographic parameters (age, sex, and diagnosis). Between 2013 and 2020, a total of 10,456 admission days and 10,575 discharge days were recorded. All meteorological data were extracted from the database of the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology of Switzerland. We estimated the effect of foehn on the BSCL items using a distributed lag model. Significant differences were found between foehn and non-foehn admissions in obsession–compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and general severity index (GSI) (p < 0.05). Our findings suggest that foehn wind events may negatively affect specific mental health parameters in patients. More research is needed to fully understand the impact of foehn’s events on mental health.