Climate Change and Medical Curricula: A Mental Health Perspective

Climate change has emerged as "the biggest global health threat" of the 21 st century, 1 but its profound consequences for mental health remain underrecognised in many areas of medicine.2 Rising global temperatures, increasingly frequent natural disasters, and accelerating ecosystem loss are creating complex pathways for psychological suffering.3,4 As communities worldwide face direct trauma, displacement, resource conflicts, and ecological grief, it has become clear that understanding these health impacts is crucial.Yet, training the next generation of health professionals to respond effectively still lags behind this urgent reality. 2 Integration and inclusion of the subject dealing with climate-related mental health into medical curricula is now essential to equip future clinicians with the knowledge and skills needed to care for patients living through a changing climate.2,4 Climate change affects mental and physical health through a combination of direct and indirect pathways.4,5 Direct impacts arise from acute events such as heatwaves, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and prolonged droughts, which can cause sudden loss, trauma, and displacement.In addition to psychosocial adversities and increased mortality, these situations frequently lead to higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, and increased suicide risk.[3][4][5] For example, recent studies have shown that higher ambient temperatures are associated with a rise in emergency psychiatric consultations, particularly for conditions such as bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and severe anxiety and depression.6 Indirect impacts are equally concerning, as they emerge through slower but equally disruptive changes to daily life.Many communities face geographical displacement, forced migration, economic hardship, competition for scarce resources, and, in some cases, growing collective violence, all of which heighten stress and erode well-being.