A review finds arts-based work may help people express, connect around, and discuss distress tied to climate change and disasters.

The problem is emotional. The evidence is broad. The review Arts-based approaches to climate change, mental health and (un)natural disasters: a scoping review maps how creative practices are being used.

Quick summary

• What the study found: The review identified 52 English-language peer-reviewed articles on arts-based approaches, climate change, mental health, wellbeing, and natural disasters.
• Why it matters: Art may help people enter difficult conversations, share knowledge, express distress, connect with others, and hold mixed emotions.
• What to be careful about: This was a scoping review, so it maps the field. It does not prove that art reduces trauma, anxiety, or grief.

Arts-based work appeared across climate and disaster contexts

The review included work on many art genres, mental health concepts, wellbeing ideas, and climate impacts. It found 21 articles focused on climate change broadly and 31 focused on specific natural disasters.

The authors searched two databases. At each screening stage, two authors independently reviewed the literature, which strengthens the mapping process.

The studies were varied. They came from different disciplines and used different methods, which makes one simple conclusion hard to draw.

The strongest message is expression and connection

The paper suggests art can help people engage with climate-related distress without forcing everything into clinical language. Distress may include trauma, anxiety, grief, and awareness of current or future threats.

Creative practices can offer self-expression when words feel too narrow. They can also support knowledge sharing, resistance, and connection.

That does not mean art is a treatment. The review points to potential roles for arts-based approaches, not a proven mental health intervention.

This matters in ordinary emotional life

Climate-related distress is not only an abstract policy issue. It can show up as worry, sadness, anger, exhaustion, or grief after disasters or while thinking about future risks.

For ordinary adults, the practical point is modest. Drawing, music, writing, performance, or shared creative projects may make difficult feelings easier to name and discuss.

Use the idea carefully around serious distress

Art can be a doorway into conversation. It can help people notice what they feel, hear others, and make meaning from experiences that are hard to summarize.

But severe distress needs care. Creative activity should not be framed as a substitute for clinical support when someone is overwhelmed or unsafe.

The safest takeaway is to see arts-based work as one possible space for expression, community, and reflection. It is not a stand-alone answer to climate suffering.

The evidence is promising but still uneven

The review covered English-language original peer-reviewed research published before 31 May 2024. It excluded work focused on news photography, film, popular culture, or broad culture without specific art practices.

Because the included articles varied so much, the review cannot tell readers which art form works best, for whom, or under what conditions.

The careful closing point is simple. Art may help people face climate-related distress together, but the evidence should be read as exploratory, not definitive.