Dépaysement refers to changes to, disorientation in, and alienation from the familiar at home.

Dépaysement can emerge from unwanted environmental change, adversely affecting mental health.

Dealing with dépaysement requires contextual approaches, but some people may struggle to overcome it.

Environmental change is inevitable. Still, when it affects the landscapes around us, it can be disconcerting, leading to negative mental health impacts. A word with multiple meanings, connotations, interpretations, and applications characterizes the complex emotions of experiencing change to, disorientation in, and alienation from the familiar at home: dépaysement.

Homesickness does not capture the full depth of dépaysement, because homesickness presumes a cure by returning home. Dépaysement might not be curable, particularly in the sense of experiencing a change of scene or a feeling of displacement from home—all without having moved. Mental health impacts can be melancholy, anxiety, worry, or being unsettled, confused, or depressed.

A storm pounds a cliff, pushing the coastline back several metres overnight. A beetle invasion kills a centuries-old forest. Human-caused climate change produces winters with almost no snow.

These experiences can be disconcerting for people who........

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