Climate change, trauma and mental health in Italy: a scoping review

Abstract

Background Climate change is having significant impacts on health and mental health across Europe and globally. Such effects are likely to be more severe in climate change hotspots such as the Mediterranean region, including Italy. Objective To review existing literature on the relationship between climate change and mental health in Italy, with a particular focus on trauma and PTSD. Methods A scoping review methodology was used. We followed guidance for scoping reviews and the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. We searched for literature in MEDLINE, Global Health, Embase and PsycINFO. Following screening, data was extracted from individual papers and a quality assessment was conducted. Given the heterogeneity of studies, findings were summarized narratively. Results We identified 21 original research articles investigating the relationship between climate change and mental health in Italy. Climate change stressors (heat and heatwaves in particular) were found to have several negative effects on various mental health outcomes, such as a higher risk of mortality among people with mental health conditions, suicide and suicidal behaviour and psychiatric morbidity (e.g. psychiatric hospitalization and symptoms of mental health conditions). However, there is little research on the relationship between climate change and trauma or PTSD in the Italian context. Conclusions More attention and resources should be directed towards understanding the mental health implications of climate change to prevent, promote, and respond to the mental health needs of Italy and the wider Mediterranean region. HIGHLIGHTS • Climate change stressors in Italy were found to have detrimental impacts on various mental health outcomes, such as psychiatric mortality and morbidity. • Little research on the relationship between climate change stressors and PTSD exists in Italy.

The Absurd Workplace

“…As the functioning of the fantasy of normality not only aims to protect the ontological security of the individual, there is also a darker side to the fantasy itself. In this functioning of the fantasy, there is also the concealment of the more traumatic nature of climate change, something which has received increasing attention in the literature (e.g., Brulle & Norgaard, 2019;Massazza et al, 2022;Woodbury, 2019). The meaning of these literatures concern the impact of climate change and the destructive effects on the livelihoods of people across the world as constituting a profound individual and collective trauma, through which people may cope by fantasizing.…”

“…This 'absurd moment' may be experienced more often, especially among the younger generations (Milfont et al, 2021), who have been raised in a rather unique period of climate change normalization, or the notion that the impact of climate change looms large over the lives of millions of young people worldwide. In response, it is not surprising to observe a rise in depression, mental health problems, suicide, and posttraumatic stress disorder in relation to climate change (Massazza et al, 2022). This is where the edifice falls apart, where a breakdown of ontological security unfolds into despair, and young generations may be especially prone to it, a process which was amplified during the Covid-19 pandemic (Wu et al, 2021), a pandemic which underscored the broken system of neoliberal capitalism.…”

Impact of air pollution and climate change on mental health outcomes: an umbrella review of global evidence

“…Some evidence suggests that exposure to hot temperatures may directly affect brain function, with alterations in proper oxygenation and permeability of the blood‐brain barrier. Other studies implicate alterations in neurotransmitters 97 , or suggest that higher temperatures may directly worsen mood, leading people to feel more irritable and stressed, and amplifying symptoms of mental disorders 100 .…”

Crises in the Anthropocene

“…On top of armed conflict and COVID-19 the other big crisis is that of climate change. Climate change, directly and indirectly, impacts the field of traumatic stress (Cuijpers et al, 2023 ; Massazza et al, 2022 ; Olff, 2017 , 2019 , 2022 ; Zhang et al, 2022 ). It represents an immediate and ongoing threat to the population's mental health, with extreme weather events, such as the floods in Pakistan, the Atlantic hurricanes, or the droughts in East Africa and the Northern hemisphere, affecting rural and urban communities and increasing tensions around the world.…”