The researchers Francisco Sampaio and Carlos Sequeira, from CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research, are the authors of February’s “Correspondence” in “The Lancet – Planetary Health“, with the feature “Climate anxiety: trigger or threat for mental disorders“.
In the text, the authors consider that mental health, namely the mental health of the youngest, has to be protected through support measures for those who suffer from climate anxiety.
Francisco Sampaio (CINTESIS/Higher School of Health Fernando Pessoa) and Carlos Sequeira (CINTESIS/ESEP – Nursing School of Porto) refer to studies that suggest a strong relationship between chronic exposure to environmental stressors and psychopathology among younger people.
“Stress is associated, for example, with anxiety and depressive disorders”, they indicate, although they also point out that the association between climate anxiety and mental illnesses remains to be clarified.
The authors believe that the subject is promising and should be the focus of future research to understand more about the potential cause-effect relationship.
The publication is available in open access here.