Opportunities for the Use of Brief Scalable Psychological Interventions to Support Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Context of the Climate Crisis

Abstract

Climate change is negatively impacting mental health through multiple pathways. Research to date has largely focused on characterising the link between climate change and mental health and no mental health and psychosocial support intervention has been explicitly designed to address the mental health consequences of climate change. In this commentary, we argue that brief, scalable psychological interventions represent an opportunity to fill this gap. Brief psychological interventions have been shown to be effective in the context of disasters, armed conflict and displacement, which have all been predicted to increase because of climate change. Brief psychological interventions are also likely to be relevant in the context of chronic climate stressors including temperature and sea-level rise or droughts. Additionally, they hold the potential to be used within a prevention and promotion framework, which is likely to be relevant in the context of increasing cumulative and overlapping climate-related adversities. Finally, brief psychological interventions could address several implementation challenges resulting from global climate change and could also be integrated with other programmes, including those that support climate change adaptation and mitigation. Research is urgently needed to provide evidence for the implementation and effectiveness of brief psychological interventions in the context of climate change.