Overview

• The August 2025 systematic review in BMJ Mental Health synthesized 19 observational studies from Australia, Germany, Peru and the U.S., involving over 5,000 participants.
• Quantitative analyses consistently linked solastalgia—a distress caused by environmental change—to higher rates of depression, anxiety, PTSD and somatization.
• Qualitative findings reveal persistent feelings of helplessness, pessimism and reduced resilience among populations facing continuous ecological degradation.
• Authors emphasize that the exclusively observational evidence precludes causal conclusions and underscores the need for longitudinal research.
• Researchers call for targeted studies to clarify causal pathways and develop interventions aimed at mitigating the mental health impact of environmental change.