Environmental change, mental health, and well-being

In a time where environmental changes are a central issue, this chapter presents a narrative review of their impact on the mental health of the populations and main challenges. Recalling major ideas behind the relationship between mankind and the natural environment, the Anthropocene poses serious questions about the conceptualization of this debate. We start by focusing on how the physical environment changes, namely, temperature, air pollution, noise pollution, green spaces, and extreme events, affect mental health. We then analyze how our environmental experience has changed in our urban setting, in labor organization, with online connections and finally with the extinction of our experience with nature. All these aspects outline that a planetary health approach is mandatory to address mental health and mutual coexistence, and structural changes in the environment must be kept in mind by clinicians and decision-makers.