The IASP Climate Change and Suicidality Special Interest Group (SIG) has had a correspondence letter published in The Lancet Planetary Health, highlighting a crucial gap in current climate and mental health research and encouraging wider engagement with this emerging field.
In response to a recent Comment exploring the relationship between rising temperatures and mental health outcomes, the Special Interest Group Co-Chairs; Dr Luke T. Bayliss, Dr Lennart Reifels and Professor Kairi Kõlves, welcome the growing attention to the mental health impacts of heat exposure. However, they emphasise that suicidality must be measured directly rather than inferred from depressive symptoms alone. While depression and suicidal ideation can be related, they are distinct, and a comprehensive understanding of climate-related suicide risk requires specific assessment of suicidal thoughts and behaviours.
The letter draws attention to existing evidence linking temperature increases to higher suicide rates and encourages researchers to incorporate validated ecological momentary assessment items for suicidality in future studies. Doing so, the authors argue, will not only improve scientific accuracy but also provide clearer insights into the mechanisms through which climate change may influence suicide risk.
The publication also provides an important platform to introduce the Climate Change and Suicidality SIG to a wider audience. As one of IASP’s newest SIGs, it brings together researchers, practitioners and policymakers committed to understanding the intersection of climate impacts and suicide risk. Members aim to advance research capable of informing effective public health responses and climate adaptation strategies.
IASP congratulates the SIG on this significant contribution and welcomes researchers and practitioners interested in this intersectional field to join the group as it continues to grow and shape future inquiry.
Read more: Suicidality in climate change and mental health research, The Lancet Planetary Health, 2025.
