An Autoethnographic and dialogical narrative analysis approach towards reframing and witnessing the lived experience of mental health problems

The fundamental problem of the Christian community to usher a hospitable presence for people with mental health problems is not about practice in itself, but about how we respond to the issue of suffering and pain. This research seeks to wrestle with ways in which the Christian community faithfully responds to the problem of suffering with those who experience mental health problems. The primary focus of the research is on the narratives of the living voices of mental health problems and their families. By adopting the method of autoethnography and dialogical narrative analysis, the research begins with firsthand experience to bear witness of the life with mental health problem as a starting point and attempt to map our lives that are intricately bound together in the experience of suffering. It explores the possibilities of a faithful theological response to the issue of suffering and pain identifying through two moments: witnessing through the stories of the life with mental health problems and witnessing the Good News through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Where do we locate the experience of suffering with mental health problems in the redemptive story of the death and resurrection of Jesus? Through narrating the stories of those who suffer from mental health problems and a re-reading of the event of crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the research seeks to think about what it means to live in the redemptive narrative of the new life with those who painfully seek to identify themselves within Christian faith. In so doing, we also seek to think deeply about what it means to truly become a welcoming community of faith.

Email Priscilla Oh: priscilla.sk.oh@abdn.ac.uk