MONDAY, April 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Smoke from wildfires driving you mad?

You’re not alone, a new study says.

Short-term exposure to air choked with wildfire smoke increases people’s risk of mental health problems, according to findings published April 4 in JAMA Network Open.

Hospital emergency rooms experience surges in patients with mental health conditions on days when smoke pollution is at its worst, researchers found.

“Wildfire smoke isn’t just a respiratory issue — it affects mental health, too,” said corresponding author Dr. Kari Nadeau, chair of environmental health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

“Our study suggests that — in addition to the trauma a wildfire can induce — smoke itself may play a direct role in worsening mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and mood disorders,” Nadeau added in a news release.

For the study, researchers tracked levels of particle pollution caused by California wildfires that occurred between July and December 2020 — the state’s most severe wildfire season on record.

They compared that data to ER visits for mental health problems, and found that exposure to wildfire smoke substantially increased the number.

Specifically, a 10 microgram-per-cubic-meter increase in wildfire particle pollution was linked to more ER visits for:

• Any mental health condition, with an 8% increased risk.

• Depression, with a 15% increased risk.

• Other mood disorders, with a 29% increased risk.

• Anxiety, with a 6% increased risk.

Women and children were at higher risk for mental health problems linked to wildfire smoke, with a 17% and 46% increased risk, respectively.

Results also showed that Black people had a more than the double the risk of mood disorders related to wildfire smoke exposure, and Hispanic people had a 30% increased risk.

“The disparities in impact by race, sex, age and insurance status suggest that existing health inequities may be worsened by wildfire smoke exposure,” lead investigator YounSoo Jung, a research associate with the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said in a news release.

Based on these results, hospitals should brace for potential increases in mental health emergencies during wildfires, researchers said.

“We need to make sure everyone has access to mental health care during wildfire seasons, particularly the most vulnerable groups and particularly as wildfires become more frequent and severe as a result of climate change,” Jung said.

More information

The U.S. Environmental Health Agency has more on health concerns from wildfire smoke.

SOURCE: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, news release, April 4, 2025