Anticipatory solastalgia in the Antipodes: Evidence of future-oriented distress about environmental change in Australia and New Zealand

Research is quickly accelerating to better understand the impacts of anxiety felt in relation to climate change on mental health and wellbeing [1], yet the emotional impacts go beyond anxiety [[2], [3]]. One construct that communicates the complex psychological experience of living through environmental loss is solastalgia. Albrecht [[4], [5]] coined the term by merging the Latin words for solace and pain to capture the distress he observed among Australians living in environments transformed by open-cut coal mines. Residents mourned their environment of times past; homesick despite being at home. Albrecht [4] noted that the distress of solastalgia could be sufficiently severe to threaten mental health.