- Title
- Environmental change and human health in Upper Hunter communities of New South Wales, Australia
- Creator
- Connor, Linda; Albrecht, Glenn; Higginbotham, Howard; Freeman, Sonia; Smith, Wayne
- Relation
- EcoHealth Vol. 1, Issue S2, p. 47-58
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10393-004-0053-2
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag New York Inc
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2004
- Description
- This article presents the theory and method informing an ongoing study of environmental change and human distress in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The nature of environmental change in the Upper Hunter landscape over the past two centuries is first described, followed by the preliminary results of a long-term study that aims to investigate the nature of residentsrsquo understanding of, and responses to, environmental change. Data from in-depth interviews found that the transformation of the environment from mining and power station activities was associated with significant expressions of distress linked to negative changes to intervieweesrsquo sense of place, well-being, and control. A new concept, ldquosolastalgia,rdquo is introduced to help explain the relationship between ecosystem health, human health, and powerlessness. We claim that solastalgia, as opposed to nostalgia, is a type of homesickness (distress) that one gets when one is still ldquoat home.rdquo Future research will aim to validate a questionnaire to test the hypothesis that environmental distress is associated with levels of depression, quality of life, and rates of stress-related disease, as well as activism and environmental rehabilitation.
- Subject
- ecosystem health; sense of place; place pathology; solastalgia; transdisciplinarity; environmental distress
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/32091
- Identifier
- uon:2912
- Identifier
- ISSN:1612-9202
- Language
- eng
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