Towards a Green Medical Humanities

Solastalgia, Ecological PTSD, and Beyond in Charles Rangeley-Wilson’s Silt Road: The Story of a Lost River

Abstract

This article concerns the relationship between the environment and trauma-like states of mental crisis—a relationship that invites a merging of the concerns of eco-criticism and medical humanities, i.e., a green medical humanities. The article outlines the need for a medical humanities with a clear ecological dimension and introduces two terms that in very different ways combine concerns with the environment and mental health: solastalgia and ecological PTSD. Lastly, the article shows how a reading of a contemporary text—Charles Rangeley-Wilson’s Silt Road: The Story of a Lost River—dealing with the dramatic changes undergone by a British river, benefits from, but also challenges, a combination of ecological and mental health perspectives.