Understanding the ecological grief experiences of individuals participating in wildfire fighting

Date

2024-1

Author

Çay, Kadriye Nas

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Increasing environmental changes, due to climate change and human-induced interventions in the environment, appear to threaten mental health. Especially for those who have developed a meaningful connection with a particular environment, the impacts of environmental losses point out an emergence of grieving responses. In this phenomenological study, 20 local residents were interviewed one year after the Mazı Wildfires happened in 2021. Through these interviews, the experiences during and after the fires were explored, as well as the environmental losses and grieving responses. The thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed that along with the physical losses, subtle meanings associated with the environment had been lost as well. During the fire, participants showed several emotional, behavioral, cognitive and physiological reactions as well as participating in firefighting. Moreover, many new ecological grief reactions associated with fire-caused environmental losses were uncovered for the first time. In parallel with the literature, among the environment-specific reactions, longing for the solace that the previous environment used to produce and alienation from the new environment were also reported. Some reminders still triggered people's memories of their loss and the fire. To cope with these environmental losses, participants tended to engage more with the environment by planting new trees. The findings were discussed with the existing grief and ecological grief literature. Based on the results, several recommendations have been presented to mental health professionals, policy developers, and researchers.

Subject Keywords

Grief, Disaster, Ecological grief, Solastalgia, Place attachment

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/107737

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis