When the black dog barks: An autoethnography of adult learning in and on clinical depression

Abstract

The American Psychiatric Association estimates that over 17 million Americans currently suffer from severe clinical depression. Learning how to live with and fight such depression must therefore be considered a massive societal adult learning task.

Invisible Lives: Using Autoethnography to Explore the Experiences of Academics Living with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

“…More telling, even though we both knew the research supporting the efficacy of medication and the inability for people with ADHD to simply “will” their symptoms away, we did not want to admit that we needed help. Although similar emotions are reported in the literature, particularly among adult university students with ADHD (Dwyer, 2000) and faculty suffering from depression (Brookfield, 2011), we were still surprised to hear ourselves expressing these views.…”

“…We wholeheartedly agree with Brookfield (2011;2014) that one of the obstacles to more open conversations is the dominant rationalism of patriarchy that is engrained within contemporary academic identity. This, we believe, is a primary source of our belief that we should simply be able to will our symptoms away or that we should not disclose intimate details within professional circles.…”

“…In autoethnography, the self is not a dirty word, rather it is a source of transformative knowledge and insight. Accordingly, we used collaborative autoethnography to explore challenges, strengths and insights gained as a result of being academics diagnosed with ADHD and to identify some of the “paradigmatic assumptions” (Brookfield, 2011, p. 37) that hampered our efforts to claim critical agency. Both researchers are faculty at a mid–sized comprehensive Canadian university: John is a tenure–track professor in Education, while Jackie is an early career tenured professor cross appointed in Education and Psychology.…”

“No man is an island”: How Chinese netizens use deliberate metaphors to provide “depression sufferers” with social support

“…This shift aims to redirect their thoughts from the persistent belief that the depression, like a family pet dog, is woven into the fabric of their daily life. 65 …”

Shame and Transformation in the Theory and Practice of Adult Learning and Education

“…This is not to downplay the time, effort, and energy such a painstaking and excruciating process involves, for both educators and students. However, if we set foot on this path, we are on the road to transformation, as great adult educators such as Mezirow (1991) and Brookfield (2011) have discovered before us.…”