Final Reflection yee haw

Lindsay Harris

COMM 3824-01

4/29/19

Comm 3824 Reflection 14

            This week focused on the emotional and mental health and well being of people as it pertains to the environment. I had not previously thought about how the physical environment could impact a person’s mental stability. In the Askland and Bunn reading they talk about the phenomena known as “solastagia” and provide an example in a town in Australia. In another reading from Gifford discusses how people not only are likely to experience post-traumatic stress disorder from environmental disasters, but also that there are tangible ramifications for these experiences like job loss. In my opinion, the most fascinating article was the one by bell hooks, as she explained the concept of an “ethic of love.” She expressed how without this mentality people would be unable to create real change for the environment.

            I found this week to be very interesting as it was a bit of a brighter topic than can be applicable to everyone regardless of where they live or what disasters we have gone through. While I had issues with the concept of bell hooks saying people should “choose joy,” I do agree that there is something to be said for how harshly we view the world when it comes to environmental and political change. I appreciate learning that there is a scientific connection between a person’s mental health and the environmental factors going on around them. While it makes complete sense to me I feel as though it is something other people often have difficulty connecting.

1. Solastagia: Place-based distress, experienced because of environmental change.

2. Pre-Traumatic Stress: Moderate to extreme anxiety about a looming crisis.

3. Ethic of Love: Moving away from an ethic of domination in which we remain attached to the status quo and act in complicity with it.