The Journal of Progressive Human Services: Radical Thought & Praxis is preparing a special section about the experience of mental health consumers/survivors. We are encouraging contributions by consumers, providers and allies on a range of issues including the politics of mental illness, relevant social movements, and radical mental health practice.
Posted in Uncategorized
“I Got Better” is an ongoing project defying the all-too-common message that recovery from mental and emotional distress is impossible. The “I Got Better” campaign will make stories of recovery and hope in mental health widely available through a variety of media.
Any and everybody with a stake in mental health in our society is welcome to participate, including people who have used mental health services, psychiatric survivors, as well as their friends, family members, colleagues, and mental health workers. More information
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Recent domestic and international research suggests that full recovery from schizophrenia and other related psychotic disorders is not only possible, but may actually be the most common outcome given the right conditions, a finding that flies directly in the face of the mainstream understanding of these confusing disorders.
In Rethinking Madness, Dr. Paris Williams takes the reader step by step on a highly engaging journey of discovery, exploring how the mainstream understanding of schizophrenia has become so profoundly misguided, while crafting a much more accurate and hopeful vision of madness. As this vision unfolds, we discover a deeper sense of appreciation for the profound wisdom and resilience that lies within our beings while also coming to the unsettling realization of just how thin the boundary is between so called madness and so called sanity.
“In Rethinking Madness, Paris Williams writes of how science, history, and personal stories of recovery from madness all tell of how the medical model of schizophrenia/psychosis is horribly flawed and needs to be fundamentally rethought. In a clear manner, he lays out the evidence for a ‘paradigm shift’ in our thinking that, at its core, would offer people who experience madness both hope and the knowledge that robust recovery is possible, and, with the right support, quite common. And as the personal stories in his book reveal, for some, a bout of madness can be a transformative personal journey.” Robert Whitaker, author of Mad in America and Anatomy of an Epidemic.
Purchase book from Amazon.com
Rethinking Madness website
Live Webinar Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19, 2012
Posted in Psychotropic drugs, Uncategorized
by Jim Gottstein in Mad in America
Three elements that reinforce each other in ways that can lead to meaningful system change. These are: (1) Changing Public Attitudes, (2) Creation of Other Choices (Alternatives), and (3) Strategic Litigation (Honoring Rights).
Changing Public Attitudes <—> Creation of Alternatives
For example, debunking the myths among the general public that
can greatly increase the public’s willingness to invest in non-coercive, non-drug, recovery oriented choices or alternatives. Read more
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Rethinking Psychiatry is a project of the Economic Justice Action Group of the First Unitarian Church. We are part of a larger movement working to improve mental health care and our mental health system. We receive no funding from, and do not promote any particular organization, government entity, corporation, or drug company. Read our mission statement
