Reflections of the ecological crisis on mental health: a public health-focused review on eco-anxiety and eco-trauma

Abstract

The deepening ecological crisis in the Anthropocene era poses a serious mental, as well as physical, threat to human health. This review aims to examine the reflections of the ecological crisis on mental health, particularly through the concepts of eco-anxiety and eco-trauma, from a public health-oriented perspective. Key concepts are defined, including eco-anxiety as a chronic state of anxiety about the planet's future, and eco-trauma, ecological grief, and solastalgia as responses to environmental disasters and a sense of placelessness.

This review argues that these psychological responses are not merely individual pathologies but rather a collective public health issue, deeply connected to environmental injustice and systemic problems. It is demonstrated that the psychosocial burden of the crisis is disproportionately concentrated on potentially disadvantaged groups, yet it also constitutes a universalizing risk by affecting urban populations in various ways. Furthermore, challenges such as the place of these new mental states within existing diagnostic systems and the risk of pathologization are discussed.

In conclusion, it is assessed that addressing the mental health impacts of the ecological crisis is possible not only through individual therapeutic interventions but also through holistic public health approaches that promote justice, rights-based policies, and community resilience.