Decolonizing psychiatry: An example from Hinduism and psychoanalysis

Abstract

In 2021, university scholars hosted a conference titled “Dismantling Global Hindutva,” which prompted Hindu activists to criticize psychoanalysts for superimposing colonial frameworks onto Hindus. Indian media organizations have questioned the validity of psychoanalysis as scholars uncover the complicity of psychoanalysts with the British Empire. Drawing upon concepts in cultural psychiatry, this article operationalizes ontological perspectivism as a way to decolonize the application of psychological theories among historically-marginalized communities. It presents three perspectives on psychological phenomena. It begins with analyzing the first psychoanalytic study on Hindu scriptures by the psychoanalyst–British colonial administrator Owen Berkeley-Hill through his autobiography, writings from contemporaries, the study itself, and subsequent citations. This study served as model for future work in psychoanalysis that portrayed Hindus in ways that Hindu activists now criticize. Next, the essay presents translations of Sanskrit commentaries on the same scriptures from Hindu philosophers to see how observant Hindus have received their tradition. Finally, it examines writings from contemporary psychoanalysts and psychiatrists who have tried reconciling mental health theories and Hinduism. Ontological perspectivism offers an approach for intercultural dialogues among scholars in distinct intellectual traditions to develop a postcolonial psychiatry.

Keywords

cultural psychiatry decolonization Hinduism perspectivism postcolonial studies the ontological turn

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