Forfattere
Francis Vergunst, Massimiliano Orri, Alberto Forte & Marie-Claude Geoffroy
Sammendrag
Climate change is a major worldwide challenge. Every region on Earth is affected and extreme weather events such as heatwaves, wildfires, storms, floods and droughts are becoming more severe, unpredictable and long-lasting1. These changes are affecting population health and wellbeing across the world, particularly among low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in which vulnerabilities are most pronounced. Meanwhile, over 720,000 people die by suicide worldwide each year2, with 77% of these deaths occurring in LMICs, highlighting the intersection between emerging climate hazards and the global suicide burden. The aim of this Comment is to describe the empirically documented associations between climate-related hazards and the spectrum of suicidal behaviors, from suicidal ideation to self-harm and suicide mortality (hereafter ‘suicidal behaviors’), and then to develop a conceptual model of the putative pathways and processes that connect climate-related hazards to suicidal behavior risks.