Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Responding to the Mental Health Effects of Mountaintop Mining in Appalachia: Perspectives from Liberation Psychology and Cultural Studies
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Living in proximity to mountaintop mining is associated with elevated risk for depression (Hendryx & Innes-Wimsatt, 2013) and significantly more poor mental health days annually (Zullig & Hendryx, 2011). These effects persist independently of income, education, race, age, and other demographic factors. Drawing on the work of liberation social psychologist Ignacio Martín-Baró and sociologist Rebecca R. Scott (2010) in her innovative study Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields, this paper explores how mental health professionals in Appalachia can help address the impact of mountaintop mining on communities through attention to the cultural politics that surround the practice and its grassroots opposition. References Hendryx, M., & Innes-Wimsatt, K. A. (2013). Increased risk of depression for people living in coal mining areas of central Appalachia. Ecopsychology, 5(3), 179-187. Scott, R. R. (2010). Removing mountains: Extracting nature and identity in the Appalachian coalfields. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Zullig, K. J., & Hendryx, M. (2011). Health-related quality of life among central Appalachian residents in mountaintop mining counties. American Journal of Public Health, 101(5), 848-853.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Gloria McGillen is the program coordinator of the Ignacio Martín-Baró Fund for Mental Health and Human Rights, located in Boston, MA, and a graduate researcher with the Boston College Center for Human Rights & International Justice.
Responding to the Mental Health Effects of Mountaintop Mining in Appalachia: Perspectives from Liberation Psychology and Cultural Studies
Living in proximity to mountaintop mining is associated with elevated risk for depression (Hendryx & Innes-Wimsatt, 2013) and significantly more poor mental health days annually (Zullig & Hendryx, 2011). These effects persist independently of income, education, race, age, and other demographic factors. Drawing on the work of liberation social psychologist Ignacio Martín-Baró and sociologist Rebecca R. Scott (2010) in her innovative study Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields, this paper explores how mental health professionals in Appalachia can help address the impact of mountaintop mining on communities through attention to the cultural politics that surround the practice and its grassroots opposition. References Hendryx, M., & Innes-Wimsatt, K. A. (2013). Increased risk of depression for people living in coal mining areas of central Appalachia. Ecopsychology, 5(3), 179-187. Scott, R. R. (2010). Removing mountains: Extracting nature and identity in the Appalachian coalfields. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Zullig, K. J., & Hendryx, M. (2011). Health-related quality of life among central Appalachian residents in mountaintop mining counties. American Journal of Public Health, 101(5), 848-853.
