Editorials

Reporting, discussing and interpreting sex differences in clinical and biomedical research has become a more complicated task in recent years, but necessarily so. Achieving clarity around what constitutes sex and what is associated with gender provides few conclusive answers and far more questions. As cogently expressed by Beans Velocci, a historian of sex and science, in a recent piece in Cell on sex as a scientific category, “…because it is so many things at once, all we can say for sure about what sex is is what a given scientist does with it” (B. Velocci, Cell 187, 1343–1346; 2024).

Loneliness and social isolation are associated with a range of serious negative physical and mental health consequences and can affect people across the lifespan. As these are among the most formidable current public health issues, identifying interventions are paramount.

As the world grapples with the repercussions of climate change, the consequences for physical and mental health have become more salient. Climate mental health unifies multidisciplinary approaches, including climate science, psychiatry and psychology, to inform and shape public policy and action to mitigate the negative effects of climate change on mental health.

Looking closely at the papers published in Nature Mental Health, patterns and connections among topics become apparent. In the January 2024 issue, a narrative theme emerges that encourages inclusivity in mental health research through transdiagnostic approaches, innovative methodology and representation across the lifespan.

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.

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 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.

The past 40 years have seen a surge in exploring mindfulness-based practices and interventions as a non-pharmacological alternative to treating various physical and psychological conditions. Addressing specific challenges that the field faces is crucial for moving it forward in a meaningful direction.

The celebration of Pride in June each year is a way to recognize triumph over oppression. It is a time to acknowledge the past and to commit to protecting LGBT+ people by promoting inclusion, equality, and mental health and well-being.

Mental Health Month has been observed to reduce the stigma that is associated with mental illness and to educate the public and encourage individuals to make their mental health and wellbeing a priority. It is an important moment to bring the strengths of advocacy groups and researchers together to promote mental health awareness and to improve equity.

Social safety nets refer to the networks of assistance that are available to individuals or families who are vulnerable or who are experiencing poverty. Mental health safety nets can encompass traditional assistance, such as food and cash transfers, as well as behavioral health services and medication coverage — much-needed resources around the world.

The language of mental health is always being updated to better capture states of being and to be more inclusive. ‘Lived experience’, the core qualia of a mental health condition as it is perceived and inhabited by an individual, reflects this evolution. It is what makes some of us mental health ‘experts by experience’.

February 2023 marks Black History Month in the USA. It is a tradition that was built on the grass-roots commemoration of the principles of tradition and reform established in Negro History Week in 1926 (ref. ¹). In the 1960s, lifted by the Civil Rights Movement, it was expanded into a month-long celebration by activists, and on college campuses by students and faculty. Born out of a yearning to better recognize the achievements of Black people in America, Black History Month also speaks to the reality that these achievements have been gained in the face of enduring hardships and the inheritance of racism and oppression.

Despite the many modern challenges to mental health, opportunities for improving outcomes abound. Multidisciplinary and structural approaches to mental health research provide promise and a call to work toward mental health equity. Nature Mental Health hopes to be part of that progress.