Call for Examining Climate Change Impacts on Mental Health in Global Research Agenda
Amruta Nori-Sarma, professor of environmental health, and BUSPH Dean Sandro Galea published a commentary in the May issue of the Lancet Psychiatry calling on the need for a global research agenda that examines the mental health impacts of climate exposures. Their commentary is in response to research published in the same Lancet Psychiatry issue by Jinah Park, Whanhee Lee, Michelle Bell and colleagues that assessed the elevated impact of extreme heat on hospitalizations among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, and other mental disorders in South Korea. Climate change and disaster events are leading to poorer mental health and well-being worldwide and there is a growing need to research and address these impacts as extreme weather events due to climate change become more frequent and intense over time.