The term “polycrisis” signifies the multifaceted crisis we are currently facing, which encompasses a range of interconnected challenges that threaten our well-being and the stability of our planet. This crisis encompasses ecological, social, economic, and mental health dimensions, all of which are intertwined and mutually influencing one another.
The mental health aspect of this polycrisis is particularly crucial to understand. It arises from the modern paradigm, rooted in colonialism. Colonialism is a powerful force that has imposed a profound sense of separation between humanity and the rest of nature. This separation has led to a sense of disconnection and hierarchy among species, cultures, and individuals, driven by the values of modern social and economic systems, including the commodification and financialization of nearly everything.
Unfortunately, these very social and economic systems are pushing our planet to its limits, surpassing six out of nine planetary boundaries—choking the atmosphere, warming the oceans, driving countless species to extinction, and destabilizing the climate.
Indigenous Peoples have known this for ages and now some climate scientists and economists have begun to recognize the inherent contradiction in promising progress, prosperity, and endless consumption and production through economic growth on a finite planet. This is the “meta-crisis” or “polycrisis,” and it’s no surprise that it has been accompanied by a mental health crisis.
To explore this crisis, we can examine two paradigms:
- Paradigm of Separability: In this paradigm, humans are viewed as separate from nature and from one another. It creates a nested system with individuals at the center, surrounded by communities, humanity, and the Earth. The focus is often on individual well-being and the avoidance of pain and discomfort.
- Paradigm of Entanglement: This paradigm acknowledges the inseparability of humans from the Earth’s ecological processes.
In this paradigm, we perceive a different nested system, where individuals are not at the center but instead are inhabited by communities, which, in turn, are inhabited by humanity, which is itself interconnected with the Earth. It envisions individuals as part of a complex, interconnected system where all of life’s complexities are embodied within us. In this view, pain and distress in the world are also felt within us, both physically and unconsciously.
In the first paradigm, there is a tendency to dissociate from pain and seek escape from it, often through the pursuit of individual freedoms and consumerism. In contrast, the second paradigm recognizes pain as a signal that something requires attention and action. Pain is viewed as a teacher, and it is processed collectively because the pain of humanity and the Earth cannot be escaped or ignored.
Polyvagal theory, a popular and helpful framework within the first paradigm, focuses on individual autonomic nervous system regulation. Decolonizing this theory means recognizing that our nervous systems are not isolated but connected to the nervous systems of all humanity, including past generations, and generations to come, and to the Earth’s ecosystem. It also involves shifting from the concept of “regulation” to a more holistic understanding of interconnectedness and integration.
From the paradigm of entanglement, addressing mental health involves creating safe processes for individuals and communities to collectively acknowledge and process the traumas and pain of humanity and the Earth. It requires a deeper understanding of pain and trauma, recognizing their inevitability, and embracing them as opportunities for teachings and transformation.
In the paradigm of separability, the first challenge is to address the deeply ingrained entitlement to a pain-free existence, which only leads to more pain, as pain is an inherent part of life. We must challenge the notion that happiness, pleasure, progress, and prosperity should be guaranteed and protected by some external authority, fostering a culture that can process pain and trauma, rather than resent it.
In this broader context, my work has focused on alternative approaches to pain and the aging process. Aging is seen as a lifelong journey of growth and responsibility, preparing individuals to become mature human beings who are accountable to the Earth and all its relations. This perspective highlights that our current mental health crisis is a result of the modern paradigm that keeps us in a state of immaturity, preventing us s from becoming responsible stewards of the planet.
In this sense, it is useful to define colonialism, neurocolonialism and neurodecolonization as follows:
Colonialism: the imposed sense of separation between humans and the rest of nature, which creates hierarchies of value (subjugation) and cognitive, affective and relational neurodegenerative impairments (e.g. land as property/occupation, exploitation, expropriation, destitution, dispossession, ecocides and genocides).
Neuro-colonization: how our ways of thinking, doing, hoping, relating and being, our affective physiological responses, and our libidinal attachments (how we source pleasure and comfort, and our fears and insecurities) are systematically wired, limited and impaired by modern-colonial systems
Neuro-decolonization: moving humanity towards neurophysical and epigenetic regeneration geared towards relational intelligence and intergenerational accountability: facing complicity, navigating complexity, rewiring the unconscious, dis-investing in harm, mobilizing reparations and activating exiled capacities for sobriety, maturity, discernment and responsibility.
Watch the recording of the presentation”Decolonizing Mental Health“, delivered at UBC on Oct 17 2023.