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In this Q&A, we speak to Melissa Marselle, a member of the British Psychological Society’s Climate Environment Action Coordinating Group, which supports and advises on the implementation of effective climate change and environment work rooted in psychological evidence, and a lecturer of environmental psychology at the University of Surrey, UK. Her research examines the mental health benefits of contact with nature, with a specific focus on biodiversity.
Intergenerational trauma, passed down through generations, is a significant concern for refugees and their descendants. Millions of people are forcibly displaced worldwide, with profound effects on mental and physical health. Refugees face many challenges, from acculturation to legal uncertainties, leading to a range of emotional struggles.
As Nature Mental Health closes in on one year of publication, there is a special opportunity to reflect on the state of mental health in 2023 to shape the mental health priorities for 2024. The journal considers the role of some of these defining issues as it readies for the new year.
Deciding between treatments in depression relies on trial-and-error following the stepped-care approach (escalating to more intensive treatments after treatment failures). Recent research is focused on biomarkers and precision psychiatry; however, we argue that stratified psychiatry could be a practical alternative for individuals with mental health disorders.
Early evidence suggests psychedelics could help alleviate end-of-life anxiety and depression. Yet there has been little study or discussion of their integration into hospice and palliative care settings, where patients often have complex comorbidities and medication regimens. The authors discuss relevant clinical challenges and approaches.
This Comment proposes to increase knowledge of the effects of urbanicity on brain and mental health by linking existing human spatial data with macroenvironmental and regional socioeconomic data. It introduces hypothesis-free models to capture the data and model life in the city and suggests refinements for future studies into conditions that will soon affect the majority of the earth’s population.
The world’s population is becoming increasingly urbanized, which brings new considerations for the effects of urbanicity on physical and mental health. Despite the complexity, there is a tremendous opportunity for research to use new tools to examine the reciprocal relationship between mental health and urban environments to improve outcomes and communities.
Mental health, like physical health, is an intrinsic and universal aspect of the human condition. The observance of World Mental Health Day is a reminder that mental health is not just an individual concern but a collective one, deeply intertwined with the broader pursuit of improved mental health and being, sustainable development, and human rights.
Personalized medicine has made substantial strides in treating cancer and rare genetic disorders by leveraging advances in genomics, yet psychiatry has lagged behind. The complexity of psychiatric disorders, owing to heterogeneity, polygenicity and environmental and epigenetic effects, calls for varied approaches in achieving personalization.
Adolescence is one of the most important transition periods in life, in which self-esteem and identity are being shaped and individuals experience profound social and physical transformations. In recent years, a concerning increase in the prevalence of mental health disorders in adolescents has been documented, prompting the mental health research community to prioritize understanding the risks of developing psychiatric disorders as well as factors that might be protective. Nature Mental Health spoke about depression in adolescence with Christian Kieling, an associate professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the School of Medicine at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. Kieling is leading an international project called ‘Identifying depression early in adolescence (IDEA)’ that brings a global health approach to the topic.
Adolescence and young adulthood are decisive times for neurobiological, cognitive and emotional development, all of which converge on mental health. Research into the identification of risks for developing mental health disorders and early intervention in young people are crucial for curtailing the youth mental health crisis.