The relationship between environment and mental health

Mental health is defned by the World Health Organization as a state of well-being in which the person realizes his/her own abilities, can cope with the stressing situations of life, reaches effciency in work and is able to con tribute to the community he/she belongs to. In the past years, a deeper understanding about the causes for mental disorders was gained, but in general, they demonstrated to be related to complex interactions between bio logical and environmental factors. In fact, there is growing evidence that the quality of the environment that surrounds us, both natu ral and anthropological, impacts on physical and mental health. The relationship between environmental conditions and mental well-being has long been acknowledged and has recently garnered additional attention in the face of climate change. In this chapter, we will present the main potentially associations between the mental illnesses and heavy metals, the cli matic factors and indoor environment, and will give an overview on new psychological effect of ecological crises, such as eco-anxiety, ecological grief and solastalgia. Finally, this chapter will give an overview on the methods to better face with the prevention and treatment of mental health related to environmental issues.