Mad Pride!
Posted on 05/12/2008 6:33:02 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Like many Americans who have severe forms of mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Ms. Saks and Ms. Spikol are speaking candidly and publicly about their demons. Their frank talk is part of a conversation about mental illness (or as some prefer to put it, “extreme mental states”) that stretches from college campuses to community health centers, from YouTube to online forums.
“Until now, the acceptance of mental illness has pretty much stopped at depression,” said Charles Barber, a lecturer in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. “But a newer generation, fueled by the Internet and other sophisticated delivery systems, is saying, ‘We deserve to be heard, too.’ ”
About 5.7 million Americans over 18 have bipolar disorder, which is classified as a mood disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Another 2.4 million have schizophrenia, which is considered a thought disorder. The small slice of this disparate population who have chosen to share their experiences with the public liken their efforts to those of the gay-rights and similar movements of a generation ago.
Just as gay-rights activists reclaimed the word queer as a badge of honor rather than a slur, these advocates proudly call themselves mad; they say their conditions do not preclude them from productive lives.
Mad pride events, organized by loosely connected groups in at least seven countries including Australia, South Africa and the United States, draw thousands of participants, said David W. Oaks, the director of MindFreedom International, a nonprofit group in Eugene, Ore., that tracks the events and says it has 10,000 members.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Mad Pride!
A very merry un-birthday to us!.........
Did Mrs. Spikol have a sone named Jeff at Ridgemont High?
Must be satire.
Since so many healthcare professionals now class addiction as a form of mental illness, perhaps there should also be a “Junkie Pride” movement.
Did you hear about the crazy midget? He was half nuts?
I saw one of those crime shows that featured a paranoid schizophrenic who decided that her landlord was in the CIA and spying on her.
So how to solve her concerns? She drilled him as he read his morning paper. Instantly dead. And she argued with the prosecution in her murder trial, that she was only trying to protect herself.
The ACLU should be locked up in one of those old mental hospitals they emptied.
“The Bazooko Circus, it’s what every Saturday night would look like if the NAZIs had won the war.” - Hunter S. Thompson
Well, I guess they didn’t have to.
I’m bringing a case of beer to this weekend’s “Drunkard Pride” meeting.
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