Psych · Public and community psychiatry
Climate change and eco-distress
Also known as Eco-anxiety · Climate anxiety · Ecological grief · Solastalgia · Climate distress · Disaster psychiatry · Heat and mental health · Planetary health psychiatry
Exam-exhaustive fellowship topic on climate change and mental health — disaster psychiatry after bushfire and flood, long-term PTSD trajectories and the second peak, heat effects on psychiatric illness, psychotropic thermoregulatory and lithium risk, eco-anxiety and ecological grief in youth, solastalgia, First Nations and rural vulnerability, the clinician's role and advocacy boundaries, and low-carbon practice. FRANZCP-primary, globally tagged.
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12 MCQs with explanations
Target exams
Red flags
Meet the patient
Late February. A 27-year-old woman on lithium comes to clinic three days into a heatwave, brought by her sister because she is "manic again" — irritable, unsteady, vomiting since yesterday, not sleeping. The air-conditioner in her flat died last week.[8][9]
In the same waiting room sits a 17-year-old whose family lost their house in a bushfire two summers ago. He is not sleeping either. He tells you he cannot see the point of finishing school "if the next one comes".[11][12]
Two patients, one climate, and two completely different errors available to you: treating the first as a relapse, and treating the second as a disorder. This topic is how you avoid both.[1][8]
You have read the opening of this topic. The complete unit — every section and its primary-source references — is part of the Psychiatry Fellowship fellowship atlas.
References20Show ledgerHide ledger
- [1]Hickman C, Marks E, Pihkala P, et al. Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey Lancet Planet Health, 2021.PMID 34895496
- [2]Albrecht G, Sartore GM, Connor L, et al. Solastalgia: the distress caused by environmental change Australas Psychiatry, 2007.PMID 18027145
- [3]Vela Sandquist A, Biele L, Ehlert U, et al. Is solastalgia associated with mental health problems? A scoping review BMJ Ment Health, 2025.PMID 40763988
- [4]Thompson R, Lawrance EL, Roberts LF, et al. Ambient temperature and mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis Lancet Planet Health, 2023.PMID 37437999
- [5]Nori-Sarma A, Sun S, Sun Y, et al. Association Between Ambient Heat and Risk of Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health Among US Adults, 2010 to 2019 JAMA Psychiatry, 2022.PMID 35195664
- [6]Kim Y, Kim H, Gasparrini A, et al. Suicide and Ambient Temperature: A Multi-Country Multi-City Study Environ Health Perspect, 2019.PMID 31769300
- [7]Hansen A, Bi P, Nitschke M, et al. The effect of heat waves on mental health in a temperate Australian city Environ Health Perspect, 2008.PMID 18941580
- [8]Martin-Latry K, Goumy MP, Latry P, et al. Psychotropic drugs use and risk of heat-related hospitalisation Eur Psychiatry, 2007.PMID 17513091
- [9]Kalisch Ellett LM, Pratt NL, Le Blanc VT, et al. Increased risk of hospital admission for dehydration or heat-related illness after initiation of medicines: a sequence symmetry analysis J Clin Pharm Ther, 2016.PMID 27378245
- [10]Hoffmann MS, Oliveira LM, Lobato MI, et al. Heat stroke during long-term clozapine treatment: should we be concerned about hot weather? Trends Psychiatry Psychother, 2016.PMID 27074342
- [11]Bryant RA, Gibbs L, Colin Gallagher H, et al. The dynamic course of psychological outcomes following the Victorian Black Saturday bushfires Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 2021.PMID 33176436
- [12]Kemel P, Porter JE, Remedios L, et al. Bushfire and adolescent mental health: A systematic review Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 2025.PMID 41020783
- [13]Dückers MLA, Stroebe MS, Baliatsas C, et al. The Long-Term Mental Health Impact of Disasters: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Epidemiological Studies Harv Rev Psychiatry, 2026.PMID 41706503
- [14]Hobfoll SE, Watson P, Bell CC, et al. Five essential elements of immediate and mid-term mass trauma intervention: empirical evidence Psychiatry, 2007.PMID 18181708
- [15]Waite TD, Chaintarli K, Beck CR, et al. The English national cohort study of flooding and health: cross-sectional analysis of mental health outcomes at year one BMC Public Health, 2017.PMID 28129752
- [16]Upward K, Usher K, Saunders V The impact of climate change on country and community and the role of mental health professionals working with Aboriginal communities in recovery and promoting resilience Int J Ment Health Nurs, 2023.PMID 37303264
- [17]Austin EK, Kiem AS A review of the relationship between mental health, wellbeing and drought resilience in rural, regional and remote communities Front Psychiatry, 2025.PMID 40491681
- [18]Trott M, Lockett C, Arnautovska U, et al. Natural disasters and suicidality in Australia: a systematic review Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, 2026.PMID 42360423
- [19]Wasmus H, Fleck L, Schmidt T, et al. Addressing youths' climate change-related distress: a qualitative study on the experience of burden, triggering and protective factors BMJ Ment Health, 2025.PMID 41043970
- [20]Yarlagadda S, Maughan D, Lingwood S, et al. Sustainable psychiatry in the UK Psychiatr Bull (2014), 2014.PMID 25505629