Solastalgia

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Solastalgia is a neologism that describes a form of physical or existential stress that is caused by environmental changes (especially environmental destruction ). Solastalgia can z. B. globally on species extinction , climate change or locally on limited events such. B. volcanic eruptions , droughts or destructive mining methods.

The term was coined in 2003 by the philosopher Glenn Albrecht as a new combination of the Latin term sōlācium (consolation) and the Greek root -algia (pain). Unlike homesickness , solastalgia refers to the psychological distress caused by environmental degradation. In 2015, the medical journal The Lancet included Solastalgie as a conceptual contribution to recording the effects of climate change on human health and wellbeing.

Solastalgia in different contexts

Solastalgia, like other anxiety disorders , exists in various society-specific and context-dependent forms.

For example, Albrecht describes Solastalgie in the context of the drought experience in rural New South Wales (NSW) and in the context of the effects of a large, open pit mine in the Upper Hunter Valley in NSW. In both cases, people were exposed to an environmental change, which for them is accompanied by negative experiences, a feeling of powerlessness in the face of the unfolding environmental changes. The loss of security for a community in a previously predictable environment is a common aspect of groups voicing solastalgia.

Societies whose livelihoods are not closely tied to the environment are less prone to solastalgia than societies that are tied to the environment. Communities that are heavily dependent on agro-ecosystems are particularly vulnerable. There are numerous examples from Africa where agricultural communities have lost vital resources due to environmental changes.

Solastalgia affects rich populations less than poor ones. A study conducted in the western United States showed that families affected by a forest fire with higher incomes reported significantly less of the effects of solastalgia than their neighbors with lower incomes. The wealth here leads to independence from the natural basis of life, and wealthy families could either move away or rebuild their homes.

Further studies by communities in the Appalachian Mountains that are affected by coal mining using Mountaintop Removal support the theory of Solastalgia. Communities that are very close to the quarrying area have a significantly higher rate of depression than those further away.

The psychologist Matthew Adams relates solastalgia to the striving to preserve the symbolic self and sees parallels with the maintenance of ontological security .

The anthropologist Hedda Haugen Askland regards solastalgia as a melancholy related to the place of life. Based on studies in the village of Wollar in New South Wales, she found that coal mining not only changed the view of those affected on the place and the past, but above all also changed their ability to imagine a future. The concepts of solastalgia and nostalgia related to place or the past are supplemented by the concept of "eritalgia" ( eritalgia ), which refers to place, time and power. Askland compares the loss experience of the people in Wollar with that of refugees and migrants, even if these people stay in the same place or in the same house. The solastalgia and eritalgia concepts were used in New South Wales when they were used for the judicial evaluation of the construction of a new coal mining project.

literature

  • LP Galway, T. Beery, K. Jones-Casey, K. Tasala: Mapping the Solastalgia Literature: A Scoping Review Study . In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health . tape 16 , no. July 15 , 2019, doi : 10.3390 / ijerph16152662 , PMID 31349659 .
  • G. Albrecht, GM Sartore, L. Connor, N. Higginbotham, S. Freeman, B. Kelly, H. Stain, A. Tonna, G. Pollard: Solastalgia: the distress caused by environmental change . In: Australasian Psychiatry: Bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists . 15 Suppl 1, 2007, p. 95-98 , doi : 10.1080 / 10398560701701288 , PMID 18027145 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sri Warsini, Jane Mills, Kim Usher: Solastalgia: Living With the Environmental Damage Caused By Natural Disasters . In: Prehospital and Disaster Medicine . 29, No. 1, February 2014, ISSN  1049-023X , pp. 87-90. doi : 10.1017 / S1049023X13009266 .
  2. ↑ Glenn Albrecht 2005. Solastalgia: a new concept in human health and identity. PAN (Philosophy, Activism, Nature) 2005; 3: 41-55
  3. ^ Glenn Albrecht 2012. The age of solastalgia. http://theconversation.com/the-age-of-solastalgia-8337
  4. ^ A b Glenn Albrecht, Gina-Maree Sartore, Linda Connor, Nick Higginbotham, Sonia Freeman, Brian Kelly 2007. Solastalgia: The distress caused by environmental change. Australasian Psychiatry 15: S95-S98 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10398560701701288
  5. ^ Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health . In: The Lancet . 386, No. 10006, November 7, 2015, ISSN  0140-6736 , pp. 1861-1914. doi : 10.1016 / S0140-6736 (15) 60854-6 .
  6. ↑ The Culture of Mental Illness ( en )
  7. ↑ Sri Warsini, Jane Mills, Kim Usher: Solastalgia: Living With the Environmental Damage Caused By Natural Disasters . In: Prehospital and Disaster Medicine . 29, No. 1, February 2014, ISSN  1049-023X , pp. 87-90. doi : 10.1017 / S1049023X13009266 .
  8. ↑ a b c Petra Tschakert, Raymond Tutu: Environment, Forced Migration and Social Vulnerability ( en ). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2010, ISBN 9783642124150 , pp. 57-69, doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-642-12416-7_5 .
  9. ↑ a b c David Eisenman, Sarah McCaffrey, Ian Donatello, Grant Marshal: An Ecosystems and Vulnerable Populations Perspective on Solastalgia and Psychological Distress After a Wildfire . In: EcoHealth . 12, No. 4, December 1, 2015, ISSN  1612-9202 , pp. 602-610. doi : 10.1007 / s10393-015-1052-1 .
  10. ↑ a b Michael Hendryx, Kestrel A. Innes-Wimsatt: Increased Risk of Depression for People Living in Coal Mining Areas of Central Appalachia . In: Ecopsychology . 5, No. 3, September 1, 2013, pp. 179-187. doi : 10.1089 / eco.2013.0029 .
  11. ^ Matthew Adams: Ecological Crisis, Sustainability and the Psychosocial Subject: Beyond Behavior Change , Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. ISBN 978-1137351593 . P. 118 .
  12. ↑ Hedda Haugen Askland, Matthew Bunn: Lived experiences of environmental change: Solastagia, power and place . In: Emotion, Space and Society . tape February 27 , 2018, doi : 10.1016 / j.emospa.2018.02.003 .
  13. ↑ Hedda Haugen Askland, Matthew Bunn: Living at the Coal Frontier: Eritalgia and the loss of an Anticipated Future. In: lecture. June 12, 2018, accessed August 20, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Hedda Askland is shining a light on displaced communities in our own backyards. In: www.newcastle.edu.au. June 12, 2018, accessed August 20, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Gloucester Resources Limited v Minister for Planning (2019) NSWLEC 7th Land and Environment Court New South Wales, 2019, accessed August 20, 2019 .