Exploring Solastalgia and The Hidden Impacts of Ecological Grief on Climate-Impacted Communities
Exploring Solastalgia and The Hidden Impacts of Ecological Grief on Climate-Impacted Communities
We often hear about the physical impacts of climate change, but what about its psychological impacts on oppressed and vulnerable communities? Studies are expanding on the theory of Solastalgia to explore the disproportionate and generational mental health impacts of environmental degradation on communities in the Global South, as well as the implications these findings may have on future climate and health policies.
Ebhuoma, O. O., Gebreslasie, M., Ebhuoma, E. E., & Leonard, L. (2022). ‘The future looks empty’: embodied experiences of distress triggered by environmental and climatic changes in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. GeoJournal, 87(4), 3169–3185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-021-10426-1
Supplementary Articles:
Albrecht, G., Sartore, G., Connor, L., Higginbotham, N., Freeman, S., Kelly, B., Stain, H., Tonna, A., & Pollard, G. (2007). Solastalgia: the distress caused by environmental change. Australasian Psychiatry, 15(1_suppl), S95–S98. https://doi.org/10.1080/10398560701701288
Cianconi, P., Betrò, S., & Janiri, L. (2020). The Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health: A Systematic Descriptive review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00074
Dube, K. (2024, July 8). Extreme weather in South Africa is disrupting tourism – research tracks the impact on coastal areas. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/extreme-weather-in-south-africa-is-disrupting-tourism-research-tracks-the-impact-on-coastal-areas-232172
Durkalec, A., Furgal, C., Skinner, M. W., & Sheldon, T. (2015). Climate change influences on environment as a determinant of indigenous health: Relationships to place, sea ice, and health in AnInuit community. Social Science and Medicine, 136–137, 17–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.04.026
McDaniel, E. (2021, September 7). Weather disasters have become 5 times as common, thanks in part to climate change. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034607602/weather-disasters-have-become-five-times-as-common-thanks-in-part-to-climate-cha
Tschakert, P., Tutu, R., & Alcaro, A. (2013). Embodied experiences of environmental and climatic changes in landscapes of everyday life in Ghana. Emotion, Space and Society, 7(1), 13–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2011.11.001
In the wake of a climate disaster, the shift from a vibrant home into tattered remains leaves communities impacted by climate disasters with an even greater challenge than the physical ruins surrounding them — emotional distress. Research has shown that people who experience climate disasters exhibit signs of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression, due to extreme lifestyle disruption (Cianconi, 2020). The most pervasive trigger of these mental health issues is “solastalgia”, which describes the feeling of loss people experience when their environment has changed so drastically that it is unrecognizable and uninhabitable. Solastalgia’s impact rings especially true for communities in the Global South who are disproportionately impacted by severe climate conditions (Albrecht, 2007). Although we can explicitly see solastalgia manifest in more dire situations, its impacts can occur in more insidious and incremental changes in climate.
One case study that depicts this is Dr. Ebhuoma and his colleagues’ research from 2019 to 2020, which explores the emotional impact of climate change on the rural KwaMaye community in South Africa. Based on their findings, they concluded that climate change plays a significant role in exacerbating hopelessness, solastalgia, and disrupting ancestral place-based attachment for the rural KwaMaye community (Ebhuoma et al., 2022).
In eastern South Africa, the KwaMaye community lives in the Okhahlamba Local Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal. With scattered agricultural land, KwaMaye has faced considerable challenges with soil erosion and fertility since the 1940s. Over 60% of KwaMaye’s land is degraded which has led to food production challenges and competing resources for livestock farmers. Since 2015, an increase in drought frequency has played a major role in low soil fertility, causing community members to express frustrations around low food production. This is not only a concern for providing adequate sustenance to the community, but also an income concern for the many who work in food and livestock production. KwaMaye’s current economic struggles are also amplified by the lasting impacts of apartheid across the region and South Africa. When apartheid ended in 1994, Indigenous South Africans in KwaMaye were left unemployed after white settlers moved their businesses and exploited wealth from South Africa to Europe. Dr. Ebhuoma and his colleagues documented that this disenfranchisement led to personal experiences of residents feeling helpless, distressed, sad, and stuck (Ebhuoma et al., 2022).
Place-based attachment also plays a critical role in exacerbating these sentiments. One KwaMaye resident expressed that a large reason for why he does not want to move is due to the ancestral ties he feels to KwaMaye. This is amplified by the trauma and oppression his ancestors faced during apartheid which was designed to drive Indigenous KwaMaye people out of the land. This history and its ramifications inspired him to reclaim KwaMaye land and provides a deep sense of identity. Although this sentiment was not felt for all case study participants, Dr. Ebhouma concluded that overall older KwaMaye residents felt a stronger sense of place-based attachment than younger KwaMaye people due to their experiences during apartheid and their personal connection to the land’s familiarity. In other studies, researchers found that communities with strong place-based attachment, who remain on their ancestral lands, experience anxiety, sadness, PTSD, and solastalgia when environmental degradation threatens their cultural identity, sense of belonging, and economy (Durkalec et al., 2015; Tschakert et al., 2013).
In the case of KwaMaye, the effects of solastalgia stem from the community reconciling with the fact that their ancestral lands no longer sustain the thriving environment they once did for their ancestors (Ebhuoma et al., 2022).
Since this study was conducted in 2019, areas of KwaZulu-Natal have experienced more severe climate issues, including a fatal flooding event in 2022 and more recent floods in 2024, which have impacted infrastructure, businesses, homes, and have taken several lives (Dube, 2024). The impact on the community’s mental health has not been reported; however, Dr. Ebhouma and his colleagues’ research indicates that it has likely had a major impact on the community. With climate change increasing the frequency of environmental disasters fivefold over the past 50 years, emotional distress is likely to become an even greater issue in the future (McDaniel, 2021). Rural communities like KwaMaye in the Global South will continue to bear the brunt of these issues as they deal with income inequality, lack of infrastructure, and the lasting impacts of colonialism (Ebhuoma et al., 2022). Although climate efforts, like the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals provide a path towards mitigating climate change, they fail to address the emotional toll climate disasters pose on communities. This presents a severe gap in climate policy. Through their case study of KwaMaye, Dr. Ebhouma and his colleagues attempt to fill this gap by advocating for public health interventions and policies that emphasize the importance of communities’ physical and mental health in effective climate policy (Ebhuoma et al., 2022).