SUSTAINABILITY AND MENTAL HEALTH: CHALLENGES AND POSSIBILITIES IN TIMES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRISES

Abstract

This work aims to highlight the relationship between sustainability and psychological issues, demonstrating how climate crises significantly impact the mental health of populations. It is a qualitative research study, developed through an integrative literature review, based on studies published between 2003 and 2024 in the Google Scholar and SciELO databases. The data analysis allowed us to understand sustainability as a multidimensional phenomenon, involving environmental, social, cultural, and emotional aspects. The results indicate that the environmental crisis transcends the ecological dimension, also configuring itself as a psychosocial problem, with direct effects on mental health. Extreme events, such as floods, droughts, and wildfires, cause significant emotional impacts, including collective grief, anxiety, trauma, and eco-anxiety, especially in vulnerable populations. Situations like the climate tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul in 2024 reinforce these effects, highlighting lasting emotional and social suffering. The study highlights the need to understand the relationships between human behavior and the environment, contributing to the development of strategies that promote environmental preservation and psychological well-being. It reinforces the importance of public policies that integrate technical and subjective dimensions, aiming at socio-environmental justice and strengthening emotional resilience. It concludes that caring for the environment is directly related to caring for mental health, making the construction of a new social and environmental pact essential for a more sustainable, balanced, and humanized future.