Here’s a structured guide to applying Fanon’s framework in mental health for liberation and relational ethics—taking us beyond mere “trauma-informed” checklists to systems that unsettle oppression and restore humanity:
1. Psychiatry as Site of Decolonization
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Fanon observed colonial psychiatry pathologised normal human responses to oppression—calling it a “great purveyor of psychiatric hospitals” en.wikipedia.org+9assafirarabi.com+9theguardian.com+9negationmag.com+4litcharts.com+4assafirarabi.com+4.
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Reframing practice: Mental health care must not merely “treat” individuals, but critique and dismantle the oppressive contexts generating distress.
2. Mental Illness as “Pathology of Freedom”
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Fanon argued mental health issues reflect broken agency, not individual fault .
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Clinical implication: Therapy should restore freedom—supporting people in reclaiming cultural, social, and political autonomy, not just symptom suppression.
3. Restore Culture, Language & Community
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He ran pottery, film clubs, prayer gatherings in Algerian hospitals to rebuild connection with lived culture znetwork.org.
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Practical action: Integrate community rituals, mother tongue, and cultural creativity into care—decolonizing the space itself.
4. Relational Accountability & Mutuality
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For Fanon, liberation is collective. Healing is not solitary—it’s relational, bound up in shared struggle en.wikipedia.org+14lasentinel.net+14znetwork.org+14.
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Transformation: Staff and clients form co-authors of the healing process. No more “us vs them.”
5. Violence as Catalyst for Consciousness (With Caution)
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He controversially framed revolutionary violence as therapeutic for colonized people journals.sagepub.com+1blog.oup.com+1en.wikipedia.org+13theguardian.com+13negationmag.com+13.
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Ethical nuance: We don’t need literal violence in therapy—but must confront institutional violence. Disrupting oppressive systems can be part of healing.
6. Desalienation: Healing from Colonial Consciousness
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He criticized psychiatry that isolated people from their roots journals.sagepub.com.
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Goal: Support clients in reclaiming selfhood, identity, history, language, relationships—in short, their full humanity.
🛠️ Putting Fanon Into Practice
| Principle | How to Apply in Mental Health |
|---|---|
| Sociodiagnosis (contextualizing distress) | Explore how poverty, racism, housing, social alienation contribute to mental health |
| Cultural restoration | Use arts, music, language, spirituality as part of therapeutic work |
| Critical consciousness | Facilitate spaces for staff/client dialogue about power, history, injustice |
| Institutional critique | Advocate for policy/practice that dismantle oppressive mental health structures |
🔍 Inspiration from Fanon’s Key Texts
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Black Skin, White Masks – identity, internalized inferiority, assimilation en.wikipedia.org+5lasentinel.net+5znetwork.org+5journals.sagepub.comtheconversation.comtheconversation.com+4en.wikipedia.org+4theguardian.com+4
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The Wretched of the Earth – colonial mental disorders, liberation struggle, systemic violence negationmag.com+9litcharts.com+9reddit.com+9
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A Dying Colonialism – cultural resistance, media, collective identity znetwork.org+4en.wikipedia.org+4newyorker.com+4
✅ Why It Matters
Fanon’s perspective reframes mental health care from a fix-the-person model to a free-the-person-and-the-community model. It pushes us toward:
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Healing that rebuilds agency
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Clinical spaces that reflect culture
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Ethical relationships grounded in reciprocity, not power
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Activism that sees mental distress as interconnected with systemic injustice
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