Solastalgia

 

What is solastalgia?

The term solastalgia, a combination of the Latin word solacium (comfort) and the Greek root –algia (pain), is a neologism coined in 2003 by Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht and indicates the feeling of nostalgia that one feels for a place despite continuing to reside there. This particular emotional state manifests itself when one’s environment is altered by sudden changes beyond one’s control. “It’s a type of homesickness or melancholy that you feel when you’re at home and your familiar environment is changing around you in ways that you feel are profoundly negative,” explained Albrecht, who coined the term to describe the damaging effects that the coal mining boom had on the inhabitants of the Upper Hunter Valley in Australia.