Is solastalgia associated with mental health problems? A scoping review

Abstract

Question

As global ecological crises accelerate, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the impact of associated environmental changes on mental health. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying the link between environmental changes and mental health problems remain underexplored. This scoping review investigates whether solastalgia—a form of distress caused by environmental change—acts as a potential contributing factor to mental health problems.

Study selection and analyses

We conducted a systematic search of the databases PsycINFO and PubMed using the keyword ‘solastalgia’. Initially, only studies that quantitatively assessed solastalgia and used validated mental health measures were included. A second, non-preregistered search expanded the scope to include studies that mentioned solastalgia and mental health without requiring quantitative solastalgia measures.

Findings

The studies retrieved in the initial search showed that solastalgia was positively associated with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. The studies retrieved in the extended search supported these findings, with qualitative studies providing further evidence that solastalgia is a useful construct to understand the emotional responses of persons affected by environmental changes.

Conclusions

Solastalgia might be a factor contributing to the detrimental effects of climate change on mental health. Further quantitative research is warranted to inform the design of (preventive) interventions targeting solastalgia and thus mitigate climate change-induced mental health problems.

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC

• Ecological crises negatively impact mental health. However, the underlying psychological mechanisms remain unclear.

WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS

• Solastalgia, a form of distress caused by environmental changes, is significantly associated with mental health problems. As such, it is hypothesised to be a mediator between ecological crises and the incidence and aggravation of mental health problems.

HOW THIS STUDY MIGHT AFFECT RESEARCH, PRACTICE OR POLICY

• Solastalgia might be a new target for the development of interventions specifically addressing ecological crisis-induced mental health problems.

Background

The significant and far-reaching impacts of ecological crises, such as climate change, on human health are increasingly being recognised. Beyond its well-documented physical health impacts, climate change also exerts profound direct and indirect impacts on mental health.^{1 2} Direct impacts may result from acute events such as wildfires, floods, or droughts, whereas indirect impacts often stem from chronic stressors such as economic and social threats, including the loss or destruction of homes and livelihoods.^{2 3} These effects can range from traumatic stress responses, depressive disorders and anxiety disorders to a heightened risk of substance abuse and even increased suicide rates.13,6

Despite clear evidence of a relationship between climate change and mental health problems, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain underexplored. One proposed contributing factor is solastalgia, a portmanteau of the words ‘solace’ and ‘nostalgia’. The concept was introduced by Glenn Albrecht¹ to refer to the distress caused by environmental changes in one’s home or surroundings, leading to a loss or lack of solace and resulting in feelings of pain or sickness.⁷ Indeed, many individuals share a deep connection to the environment around them, which provides stability, security, and identity,⁸ and losing this connection can lead to profound distress and sadness, negatively impacting mental health.⁹

Several scales for measuring solastalgia have been developed and validated, including the Environmental Distress Scale (EDS),¹⁰ the Scale of Solastalgia (SOS)¹¹ and the Brief Solastalgia Scale (BSS),¹² a newly developed subscale of the EDS. However, the extent to which solastalgia contributes to the effects of environmental change on mental health problems remains unclear.

Objective

The aim of this scoping review was to evaluate, for the first time, whether the extant empirical literature supports a relationship between solastalgia and mental health problems. It is essential to learn more about this potential relationship in order to tailor (preventive) interventions to the needs of the populations affected by ecological crises and their consequences. In view of the limited and heterogeneous nature of the literature, a scoping review was chosen as a suitable methodological framework.^{13 14}

Study selection and analysis

This study followed the PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and was preregistered on the Open Science Framework (OSF) prior to commencing the research. The preregistration details can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/5D7S9.

Core search and eligibility criteria

A systematic search was conducted in the MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases for literature published from 2003, when Glenn Albrecht first introduced the concept of solastalgia, up to 2 September 2024. These databases were selected as they are most comprehensive for research questions focusing on mental health outcomes. The search strategy used the keyword ‘solastalgia’ to ensure comprehensive coverage of relevant studies while minimising the risk of prematurely excluding pertinent literature. Given that solastalgia is a distinct term with no synonyms, the search focused on a single key word. Two study investigators (LB and AVS) independently reviewed the titles and abstracts of all retrieved records. Papers were excluded if they were not original research or if they were deemed irrelevant because they did not mention solastalgia or mental health in the title or abstract.

In the next step, the full texts of potentially relevant studies were retrieved and assessed for eligibility by two independent investigators (LB and AVS). Studies were deemed eligible if they met the following criteria: (a) inclusion of a measure of solastalgia (eg, the EDS); (b) use of a validated measure of mental health (eg, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21)); and (c) reporting on the relationship between solastalgia and mental health. To complement the systematic search, manual searches were conducted by reviewing the reference lists of all included full-text articles. Only studies published in English, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese or French were considered for inclusion. For each selected study the following data were extracted: first author, year of publication, sample size, geographic region, measures of solastalgia and mental health and the results, including correlations or other relevant findings. In the case of missing data, we contacted the authors of the respective studies to request the relevant information. Data extraction was performed independently by two investigators (LB and AVS), with any disagreements resolved by a third investigator (SF). No risk of bias assessment was conducted, consistent with scoping review methodology.

Extended search and eligibility criteria

Given that our initial, preregistered search identified only a small body of literature on the relationship between solastalgia and mental health (core search; see below), a second, non-preregistered search expanded the scope to include studies that mentioned solastalgia and mental health without requiring quantitative solastalgia measures. The inclusion criteria for the second search were that the study must (a) be original research; (b) mention solastalgia, and (c) include a variable related to mental health.

Findings

Study characteristics

An adapted PRISMA flowchart detailing the study selection process is shown in figure 1. The initial search yielded 80 studies containing the term solastalgia, and the final number of included studies was 19.

Figure 1. Flowchart showing the screening and study selection process.

Results from the core search

The five quantitative studies investigating the relationship between solastalgia and mental health problems are summarised in online supplemental table 1. The studies were conducted in Australia (n=1,477–2,084), Germany (n=620), Peru (n=223) and the USA (N₁=234, N₂=416). Three studies investigated the relationship between solastalgia and depression, three studies investigated the relationship between solastalgia and anxiety, two studies investigated the relationship between solastalgia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and three studies investigated the relationship between solastalgia and general/other mental health problems.

Solastalgia and depression

Three studies assessed the association between solastalgia and depression. These studies were conducted in the context of environmental changes—that is, having experienced a natural disaster at some point during one’s lifetime, bushfires, and living near an open-pit mine.^{9 15 16} All correlations between solastalgia and depression were highly significant. The study examining people living in Canberra, Australia, or the surrounding area during the 2019–2022 bushfires and the study examining people who had experienced a natural disaster reported smaller correlations of r=0.27¹⁶ and r=0.29,⁹ respectively. The strongest correlations (r=0.35–0.53) were reported for people living in the immediate vicinity of an open-pit mine in Germany.¹⁵

Solastalgia and anxiety

The same three studies also assessed the association between solastalgia and anxiety.^{9 15 16} All correlations between solastalgia and anxiety were highly significant. The study examining people living in Canberra, Australia, or the surrounding area during the 2019–2022 bushfires and the study examining people who had experienced a natural disaster reported smaller correlations of r=0.21¹⁶ and r=0.25,⁹ respectively. For people living in the immediate vicinity of an open-pit mine in Germany, stronger correlations of r=0.38 and r=0.51 were found.¹⁵

Solastalgia and post-traumatic stress disorder

Two studies assessed the association between solastalgia and PTSD. One of these studies was conducted in the context of environmental changes such as droughts and forest fires in Chile, and the other examined individuals who had experienced a natural disaster at some point during their lifetime. Both studies found a small correlation between solastalgia and PTSD of r=0.29.^{9 11}

Solastalgia and general/other mental health problems

Three studies assessed associations between solastalgia and other mental health problems—namely, psychological distress, somatisation and psychological well-being.15,17 The studies were conducted in the context of environmental changes, specifically a wildfire in Arizona (the Wallow Fire of 2011), the effects of droughts, bushfires and forest fires, and living in proximity to open-pit mines. The first study found that, for every 1-point increase on a solastalgia scale, the odds of experiencing psychological distress increased by 26%.¹⁷ The second study reported a correlation between solastalgia and somatisation ranging from r=0.42 to r=0.54.¹⁵ Finally, the third study found a negative correlation between solastalgia and psychological well-being of r=−0.28.¹⁶

Extended search

The 14 additional studies investigating the relationship between solastalgia and mental health problems are summarised in online supplemental table 2. Of these, six were quantitative, but did not fulfil our initial eligibility criteria, and eight were qualitative. Geographically, the studies spanned a diverse range of locations: mainland Australia (N₁=1, N₂=22, N₃=60), Canada (N₁=70, N₂=72), Ghana (n=26), Ireland (n=271), India (n=34), the Netherlands (n=1,023), Pakistan (n=370), the Torres Strait Islands (n=4), and the USA (N₁=566; N₂=1,380,294, N₃=8,591). Notably, some studies emphasised indigenous perspectives, particularly those conducted in Australia with Aboriginal communities and in Canada with Inuit populations, thus offering broad geographical and cultural insights.

Six studies (of which three were quantitative) described a positive association between solastalgia and depression518,22 whereas one quantitative study found that depression was marginally higher in regions unaffected by environmental degradation.²³ An example statement from one of the qualitative studies was “There’s definitely depression (as a result of the changes), and you know a lot of things come about when everything that you know is taken away from you. And you can’t, you’re in no place to control that yourself, so if you can’t affect your own life or circumstances, you’re going to feel very helpless […]”.¹⁹ Moreover, five studies (of which two were quantitative) mentioned a positive association between solastalgia and anxiety.519 23,25 An example statement from one of the qualitative studies was: “[…] I see solastalgia being felt by a community expressing a sense of eco-anxiety of an unknown future, experienced by a community that lives day to day with the looming threat of the next ‘big event’ and unfortunately the flooding proves that this fear is not without warrant”.²⁵ Similarly, one quantitative study found that solastalgia was positively associated with a pessimistic outlook on the future,²⁶ another quantitative study found it was positively associated with negative effect,²⁷ one quantitative and one qualitative study found it was associated with lower self-worth and self-esteem,^{5 22} and reduced resilience.²² An example statement from one of the qualitative studies was: “ […] So I think if more and more people can’t be going to the cabin and can’t be hunting and can’t be dependently going on the land that they just start to see a community shifting, not knowing what they’re supposed to be doing, not knowing what you’re good at, not knowing what your self-worth is, not knowing what you should be doing with your time”.⁵

Finally, in the eight qualitative studies solastalgia emerged as a central concept to explain and understand the reactions of individuals affected by environmental changes.^{7 8} The qualitative studies generally viewed solastalgia as the mediating factor between environmental change and mental health problems. Statements included: “As climate change severely alters the surrounding landscape of a people’s place, the resulting experiences are usually emotional and painful. A significant number of studies have been carried out at different places to understand people’s emotional experiences resulting from the changing climate and its effects on the local environment. In these studies, ‘solastalgia’ has emerged as a useful concept for understanding these emotional experiences”.²⁸ “Results illustrate that the combination of withered crops, drying up of wells, loss of beauty and deteriorating social networks trigger strong emotional responses, in particular feelings of sadness. We conclude that these emotional responses are expressions of solastalgia in what we call ‘hollow homes’ where place and self of agrarian livelihoods undergo both figurative and literal desiccation”.²⁹ “Despite their limitations, the current findings for the most part agree with prior research suggesting that the presence of MTR mining increases community-wide risk for distress and disorder, which in turn supports the construct of solastalgia”.¹⁸

Discussion

The aim of this scoping review was to investigate whether solastalgia is associated with mental health problems and might therefore be considered a potential contributing factor to the negative effects of climate change on mental health. The identified quantitative studies consistently showed small to moderate positive correlations between solastalgia and mental health problems including depression, anxiety, PTSD and somatisation. The extended search further supported these findings, with qualitative studies suggesting that solastalgia is a highly useful construct to understand the emotional responses of individuals affected by environmental change.

Although the number of studies examining solastalgia is still limited and the research remains heterogeneous, overall, our analysis supports the assumption of a positive relationship between solastalgia and mental health problems based on the literature to date. These findings are in line with the literature on positive links between environmental distress more generally and mental ill health.³⁰ Notably, solastalgia is one of several eco-emotions such as eco-anxiety, eco-grief or eco-shame/-guilt, which might be important in explaining mental health problems arising from ecological crises. It is distinct from these emotions in specifically resulting from environmental loss at one’s home. Interestingly, the strength of the observed associations ranged from 0.2–0.3 in response to natural disasters to 0.5 near a continuously degrading open-pit mine. This suggests that solastalgia might either be more intense or salient in scenarios of ongoing environmental destruction as opposed to one-time events, or in scenarios which are clearly human-made and not attributable to any other causes (eg, the weather instead of climate change). This notion fits in well with long-standing evidence in trauma research, according to which interpersonal traumas are most likely to cause PTSD.³¹

Notably, while the quantitative studies included in our initial search uniformly attested to positive links between solastalgia and mental health problems, the findings of the second, non-preregistered search were more equivocal. This was particularly true of the quantitative studies which did meet the eligibility criteria of our initial search. In one of the included studies²³ the prevalence of depression was marginally higher among residents of the Permian Basin (an oil production site) compared with other areas. However, this comparison was not adjusted for important variables such as age, gender and socioeconomic status as it was not the main focus of the study. Indeed, residents of the Permian Basin were more likely to be younger, men, and employed, which is highly likely to impact depression.

By contrast, although inherently less comparable, the findings of the qualitative studies unequivocally suggested positive links between solastalgia and mental ill health. Interestingly, some qualitative studies with indigenous communities found solastalgia deeply tied to the loss of ancestral lands. These findings suggest that, in addition to the nature of the environmental change, cultural and social ties to land likely moderate its impact on mental health.

The reported correlations between solastalgia and mental health might be explained by the mental burden that the gradual loss of one’s home and social and community structures can impose, leading to a loss of solace.¹⁷ As such, solastalgia has been hypothesised to act as a risk factor mediating the relationship between unwelcome environmental changes and mental health problems.^{15 16} One plausible explanation for the link between solastalgia and mental health problems lies in the theory of learned helplessness, which suggests that depressive symptoms stem from a perceived loss of control and resulting powerlessness.³² Indeed, studies have shown that solastalgia often involves feelings of helplessness and resignation, as environmental changes typically lie beyond the affected individual’s control.^{33 34} This theory provides a compelling explanation for the link between solastalgia and depressive symptoms. Another explanation may be found in the deep connection between certain communities and their land; for instance, it has been found that deterioration of the land directly impacts the mental health of many indigenous populations,^{6 35} both due to a loss of place-based solace and disruption to land-based activity. In turn, this may explain why groups such as Aboriginal people, the Bushmen in Uganda, the Inuit in Canada, and farmers in Australia are particularly affected.

Solastalgia is emerging as a concept which might be relevant to both Western cultures and indigenous populations, and beyond. It appears to extend from farmers and urban dwellers in cities like Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Lahore, Pakistan to the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago south of New Guinea, demonstrating its clinical significance across the world. The extant evidence suggests that the findings on solastalgia can be broadly applied across different populations, providing insights into the mental health risks associated with environmental change. As such, solastalgia could potentially serve as an early warning sign, a hypothesis that future longitudinal research should test. Should causality be approximated by such research, a further suggestion for clinical innovation is to evaluate whether individuals experiencing solastalgia-induced mental health problems can be treated with conventional methods used for grief disorders, depression or anxiety, or whether it is necessary to develop new specialised approaches. However, notably, solastalgia originated in Western paradigms (concretely, in the Upper Hunter Valley in Australia), and whether it is capable of truly reflecting experiences across global communities remains the subject of debate. For instance, in a recent perspective article³⁶ it was outlined how the environment, place-based identity, and mental health cannot be separated in Pacific contexts. Therefore, the group is currently investigating the impact of climate change on the well-being of Pacific peoples using a conceptualisation of solastalgia provided by the study participants themselves. Their conceptualisation highlights the importance of lost connections to ancestors and history, a facet of solastalgia which is likely to differ between Pacific and Western populations. This implies that quantitative researchers in particular need to be mindful of the instruments they use to assess solastalgia in non-Western contexts and at the very least co-design any research conducted in indigenous communities.

Further research is needed to deepen our understanding of the relationship between solastalgia and mental health. Future studies should use validated scales and consider experimental or quasi-experimental and prospective designs in order to better elucidate the effects of solastalgia on mental health. For instance, such approaches could shed light on causal directions and underlying mechanisms and help to clarify the association between solastalgia and mental health variables over time. As a concrete example, researchers could study areas affected by a forest fire and compare changes in levels of solastalgia between people from affected and unaffected regions. By tracking the progression of solastalgia and related mental health disorders over time and comparing the findings with data from a comparable control area, researchers should be able to gain a deeper understanding of these dynamics. As climate change gathers pace, it is essential to understand the relationship between environmental changes, solastalgia and mental health problems and the underlying mechanisms, to ensure that adequate care is available for the individuals affected.

An important strength of the present review is that it constitutes the first attempt to quantitatively summarise the extant literature on solastalgia and mental health problems. Further strengths include the preregistered systematic search, the use of strict eligibility criteria, and the independent data extraction. The main limitation is that only a small number of studies met our criteria, with a particular lack of studies reporting quantitative data. This dearth of research is surprising given that the concept is widely recognised in the literature and validated scales to assess solastalgia have been available since 2006. In fact, much of the existing literature relied on qualitative methods using small heterogeneous samples, which comes with limited generalisability. Moreover, all identified studies were cross-sectional, meaning that the temporal order of the relationship between solastalgia and mental health problems cannot be established. Longitudinal and experimental research will be crucial in shedding further light on the extent to which solastalgia is causally involved in mental health problems.

The aim of this scoping review was to provide a systematic overview of the literature on the association between solastalgia and mental health problems. The identified quantitative studies consistently found positive correlations between solastalgia and mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Moreover, solastalgia was found to be positively associated with other constructs related to mental health such as pessimism, negative affect, and reduced resilience. Overall, solastalgia is increasingly recognised as a factor in explaining psychological distress caused by environmental changes and is used to analyse emotional responses to events such as droughts, floods and other natural disasters.

Conclusion

Solastalgia can be seen as a valuable concept for assessing the mental health risks among populations exposed to environmental change. While solastalgia is a rational response to environmental change, it appears correlated with worse mental health. However, we cannot confirm directionality or causation. More quantitative research is needed to clarify the association between solastalgia and mental health variables over time, as well as to identify causal directions, underlying mechanisms, and effects on clinical treatment. Such research is crucial to ensure that the world is adequately prepared to address the mental health consequences of the climate crisis.

Data availability statement

Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analysed for this study.