Johannes Brehm in Der Spiegel: Reducing air pollution substantially improves mental health

In an article from 29 August, Germany’s leading news publication Der Spiegel cites the recently published scientific paper by Hertie School PhD candidate Johannes Brehm with Henri Gruhl, Robin Kottman and Laura Schmitz. In this paper, the authors use administrative health insurance data to analyse the long-term effects of air pollution exposure on mental health in so-called Low Emission Zones across Germany. 

Their findings show that these zones not only improve air quality, but also mental health, especially among young people. The data displays a decline in depression diagnoses, anxiety disorders, the prescription of antidepressants as well as the number of specialist visits following the introduction of Low Emission Zones in major German cities.

The paper therefore concludes that better air quality is economically beneficial, as a population’s improved mental health reduces health costs.

Read the article here and the full paper here. 

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