The Silent Crisis: Identifying the Research Gap on Data Centers' Psychological and Mental Health Impacts on Local Communities
ScholarXIV
Abstract
The rapid expansion of data center infrastructure is reshaping communities worldwide, yet a critical dimension of this transformation remains unexamined: the psychological and mental health impacts on local populations. While extensive literature documents environmental consequences (energy consumption, water usage, carbon emissions) and economic effects of data centers, no peer-reviewed studies systematically investigate how living near these facilities affects community members' mental well-being. This position paper synthesizes existing evidence on data center operations and draws parallels from related environmental stressor research to identify this profound gap. We propose a theoretical framework linking data center activities through multiple pathways—resource competition, infrastructure strain, visual noise pollution, economic displacement, and climate microchanges—to potential mental health outcomes including anxiety, depression, chronic stress, and community fragmentation. Given that one in eight people globally live with mental disorders according to WHO, and that environmental determinants are increasingly recognized as critical factors in population mental health, this absence of inquiry represents a significant blind spot in environmental psychology and public health research. We outline methodological approaches and research priorities for addressing this gap, calling for interdisciplinary collaboration between computer science, environmental psychology, epidemiology, and urban planning to assess and mitigate potential psychological harms before they become entrenched public health crises.
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