Throwing Pebbles While Waiting: An Autoethnographic Exploration of Mental Health and Colonialism

Abstract

In this article, three scholars jointly investigate questions of Western colonization and mental health. While their areas of interest and experience vary, the authors discuss oppression as a common thread connecting their ideas about mental health and its medicalization. In line with Toyosaki et al. (2009), the researchers did a community autoethnography, performing written dialogue as a dynamic research method. Using a sequential model, Kelly Limes Taylor wrote about her experience, passed it on to Rita Sørly and Bengt Karlsson. Karlsson added his story to the previous writing, and he passed it on to Sørly for further addition of stories. Sørly passed the stories added to Limes Taylor, which added new reflections. Together, the three researchers explore various questions: Who determines what is normal or humane in our society, and who gets left out of those decisions? Do mental health providers make a positive difference, or are they merely legalizing new forms of oppression? What happens when one simply cannot mentally assimilate the dominant narratives that excuse oppression, environmental destruction, and/or insatiable economic practice? Through the lens of their own experience, Limes Taylor, Sørly, and Karlsson share their thoughts on these and other questions as they jointly explore ideas of mental health identity in the context of Western colonialism.