Skip to Main

Bad air quality from wildfires is affecting our mental health

While the haze hasn’t been quite as bad lately, the wildfires in Canada are still burning and it looks like smoke will be a problem all summer.

That haze is impacting our air quality, and especially anyone with breathing issues, but there are other issues as well.

Joseph Hayes, MD, PhD, is a professor of psychiatry at University College London. He’s an expert on the effects of air pollution like wildfire smoke on depression among the general population. We got to talk to Dr. Hayes about how we can be aware of the effects on our mood.

His study found that bad air quality not only causes depression, but can also make people more likely to die by suicide. You can find out more here.