Artigo Científico

Resumo: Introduction: In the context of global warming, new terms emerged in the globalmedia and in the psychology field to embody the negative feelings which come alongwith climate change such as ‘eco-anxiety’ or ‘solastalgia’. The pathological characterof these emotions is denied although medical opinion is often required for helpingpeople to handle them. Also, no proper medical framework in the field exists to studyand care for these patients.Methods: In this narrative review, we aim to (1) analyse the concept of eco-anxietyby focusing on its history and developed concepts, (2) summarize the different scalesbuilt to assess eco-anxiety and (3) propose a new medical framework.Results: We came out with a framework based on the transformation of a physiologi-cal adaptative behaviour the ‘eco-distress’. It is composed of three dimensions: eco-anger, eco-grief and eco-worry, it is not debilitating in daily life and promotes copingstrategies such as management of negative emotions and pro-environmental behav-iours (PEB). It can transform itself into a pathological state, the ‘ecolalgia’, composedof two core dimensions: eco-anxiety and eco-depression, leading to functional impair-ment and decrease in PEB. If ecolalgia maintains over 15 days, we propose to considerit as a full psychiatric disorder needing medical advice.Conclusion: This new framework enables a novel approach that is necessary for theimproved management of mental health issues related to climate change.