Solastalgia : it is the mixture of two words, “solace” which means comfort in English, and algie: pain. Solastalgia is the loss of what comforts us, and in this case, the planet earth, our natural habitat, which is going through dark times due to global warming. The term is relatively recent, it was born from an Australian philosopher, Glenn Albrecht at the very beginning of the 2000s.
Definitions: solastalgia and eco-anxiety
Solastalgia is part of a set of terms that appeared recently, which refer to the impact of global warming on the psychological state of humans. We also talk abouteco-anxiety.
Solastalgia, comes from an observation by Glenn Albrecht among farmers in the Hunter Valley, “whose living environment and natural environment are deeply degraded by the exploitation of open pit coal mines. He highlights correlates the experience of the loss of a known environment and the emergence of a psychic distress that he calls “solastalgia”.
Unlike nostalgia, which refers to a place left behind, solastalgia refers to feelings experienced in the current environment.“, notes Charline Schmerber, psychotherapist specializing in the issue. In other words, it is the feeling of dispossession that one can feel when faced with a landscape ravaged by a climatic event: a forest destroyed by fire, for example.
Eco-anxiety dates back to 1997, it is theorized by the Belgian-Canadian public health researcher Véronique Lapaige. There is no single definition, nor a French definition, but two points must be remembered to understand it, according to the Jean Jaurès Foundation “a feeling of concern, worry, anxiety andanxiety felt by some individuals that is caused by current upheavals or by threats to the environmentlinked in particular to climate change.
How does solastalgia arise? What are the symptoms ?
In an interview with the Huffington Post, public health doctor Alice Desbiolles, author of “Eco-anxiety: living serenely in a damaged world”, explains that everyone can be affected by this feeling in the face of global warming, regardless of their level of knowledge of the subject. She points out that THE heat wavesdroughts, tend to spawn waves of eco-anxiety.
For others, from the reception of scientific information, an awareness takes place and we can no longer ignore this reality, to the point of seeing its mental health really impacted.
The symptoms are described by Charline Schmerber as a mix of negative emotions: a feeling of helplessness and loss of control, the impression that things no longer have meaning, fear of the future. But also sadness, regret, anxiety disorders which can manifest as insomnia, panic attacks. She also lists a consequence: the questioning of having a child.
What to do to fight against solastalgia?
Dealing with solastalgia requires mourning a reality that has been known in the past, a changing universe. We often go through denial, then anger, then negotiation and finally sadness. But the site Solastalgie.fr also notes thatafter the mourning comes a regaining of control over the situation, at least on an individual scalethrough acceptance, forgiveness, the quest for meaning (what actions can I take to help improve the situation: by reducing its carbon impact for example), then the possibility of finding serenity with a new more coherent balance in the face of the situation.
Even if we know that we cannot solve the climate problem by committing ourselves, that the weight of individual actions is not enough, feeling like you’re “doing your part” can help you feel better about solastalgia. Psychologists and psychotherapists are also trained in the question to accommodate the concern of eco-anxious people, considering therapy to put down your emotions is an option.
Sources: Jean Jaurès Foundation, Huffington Post, Solastalgie.fr,
