From mindfreedom-oregon-news at intenex.net Fri Jul 3 17:14:01 2009 From: mindfreedom-oregon-news at intenex.net (Public announcement list for Oregonians about human rights in the mental health system. ) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 15:14:01 -0700 Subject: Portland Mercury: Oregon Mad Movement 40 Years Later In-Reply-To: <739732660906251952u28e2c42fl9ad1da53c1b0687d@mail.gmail.com> References: <739732660906251942p5843c9bak4cba124e7131029f@mail.gmail.com> <739732660906251952u28e2c42fl9ad1da53c1b0687d@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <2D8C2DA3-BCB3-4A00-826D-73EDB853CD11@mindfreedom.org> MindFreedom Oregon News THE MAD POWER OF FORTY If you're at the Oregon Country Fair next week, watch for MAD PRIDE skits to change mental health care every day at 3 pm on the Community Village Stage, sponsored by MindFreedom (which you can find in the Doors of Expression Booth). You're invited to join in. Oregon Country Fair celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. This year is also the 40th anniversary of the first known USA psychiatric survivor activist group of the modern era, according to several sources. That first group was the provocatively-named Insane Liberation Front based in Portland, Oregon! It only lasted for a shot while, but it's still remembered, and was influential. MindFreedom member Tom Wittick, who helped organize in ILF, still lives in Portland. Well, the MAD MOVEMENT is still alive and well in Oregon and the world 40 years later! So celebrate Oregon's 40th anniversary of THIS 'MAD PRIDE' MONTH OF JULY! BELOW is text of an article recently published in the Portland, Oregon weekly newspaper MERCURY about the "mad movement," including about Will Hall who is a member of MindFreedom. Will is someone who really supports unity in the consumer/survivor movement, way to go Will! Feel free to forward. NOTE: It's easy to log on to the Mercury web site to create an account, and post in a "comment." Original article on Mercury web site: http://tinyurl.com/mad-mercury ~~~~~~~~~~~ Portland Mercury June 25, 2009 EXTRAS ? SPECIAL! Mad Medicine A New Group for People Who Hear Voices Celebrates Mental Illness Diversity by Marjorie Skinner AN AVERAGE-LOOKING, middle-aged man stood in the public meeting room of the downtown Multnomah County Library, asking a question. He was having trouble distinguishing "dream from reality," and he wondered why he should bother to do so when the information he is given turns out to be verifiable and useful. (Once, he was instructed to overturn an empty cup left in a phone booth?and when he did, he happily discovered someone else's forgotten pocket money left underneath.) A woman then stood and spoke of the series of spiritual transformations she has gone through, mentioning that her Catholic phase was initiated by a vision she had of the Virgin Mary. ("Why else would you become a Catholic?" she cracked.) Another younger man admitted that he has embraced the "spirituality of nothingness" after finding that meditation only exacerbated the noisy mind from which he hoped to find relief. They were all attendees of the first-ever gathering held by Portland Hearing Voices, a new group that has formed to address the spectrum of circumstances surrounding the experience of hearing voices, seeing visions, and holding extraordinary beliefs. If the language sounds deliberate, consider that commonly accepted words like "crazy" and "deluded" are steadily developing the dark shroud of epithet among those who are beginning to recognize that our society's understanding of mental diversity is, at the very least, oversimplified. Mad Pride Most people, even many of those working within the mental health system, are only dimly aware of the issues being raised by groups like Portland Hearing Voices (PHV). Nonetheless, the questioning of traditional approaches to experiences that are usually associated with schizophrenia has become quite common, particularly in the UK. (PHV's kickoff event featured a screening of the hour-long BBC documentary Hearing Voices, produced as early as 1995.) While the Portland group is among the first of its kind in the United States, intervoiceonline.org, an international network and online community for voice hearers, estimates that there are over 170 Hearing Voices groups in England alone. The New York-based Icarus Project is an example of the growing "Mad Pride" movement, which, according to its mission statement, "envisions a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of 'mental illness' rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework." Through online forums, a database of resources, the co-sponsorship of a weekly radio program (Madness Radio, madnessradio.net), and publications such as the Harm Reduction Guide to Coming off Psychiatric Drugs, the international network's bustling activities indicate growing interest in the cause. The Portland group's initial goals are simple: to provide a safe, comfortable place for people to talk about their experiences, be they negative or positive, diagnosis identified or not, or medicated or not. It also seeks to re-educate a public that not only tends to associate voice hearers with a higher potential for violence, but also habitually treats these people by snuffing their irregularities into silence with potent medication. The New School Nutritional analysis, detoxification, and stress and lifestyle management are just some of the alternatives and supplements to pharmaceuticals that have successfully provided relief. PHV hopes to connect practitioners in these fields with potential clients who might be anxious to seek them. It's important to note, however, that Hearing Voices groups, the Icarus Project, the Mad Pride movement in general are not focused on pushing people to reject medication?the aim is to illuminate the existence of alternate means of coping and provide honest information on all available resources. Dr. Krista Tricarico, of Portland's Open Mind Medicine, is one such resource. A naturopathic physician who specializes in mental health and has experience with clients who hear voices or otherwise go through non-ordinary states of consciousness, she explains, "In conventional psychiatry, someone who hears voices would likely be diagnosed with schizophrenia. Based on this diagnosis, an individual will be prescribed a medication or a variety of medications in hopes of suppressing the voices. These drugs have difficult side effects, many requiring additional drugs to manage, and often disrupt a person's sense of self. Hearing voices may be a sign of an imbalance in the brain, but simply suppressing the voices does not necessarily improve the health of the individual." Good Voices Anusuya StarBear (who changed her surname at the behest of the voice she hears) says she first remembers hearing the voice of what she believes to be her great grandmother?a Cherokee woman she never knew? when she was less than a year old. Lying in her crib, lit by the moon, the voice told her, "You are the light," after which she had an out-of- body experience. The episode began recurring. A therapist herself, with a unique blend of training that incorporates Native American practices and artwork therapy, StarBear has been visited periodically by the same voice throughout her life. At around four years of age, as she passed an optometrist's office on the street, the voice matter-of-factly informed her that she would need glasses in a few years. When she walked into a lecture hall and first glanced the back of the head of the man who she would later marry and have kids with, the voice chimed in, "That is the father of your children." StarBear has trusted her voice to the extent of changing her name despite reservations over what people would think, including a fear that it might cost her clients (it did not). Even more profound was when she battled cancer and trusted her voice's insistence that she refuse an operation, against her doctors' strident recommendation?and the cancer went away, without the procedure. "I never thought for a moment that I was mentally ill, or that it was a bad or a dangerous thing," says StarBear of the voice, which she always consults before making important decisions. "Always that [the voice] was a spiritual teacher. When I hear it I don't always like what it says, but always feel the truth of it." Bad Voices While the idea of a wise, insightful voice or altered state of consciousness can sometimes seem appealing (ever experiment with psychedelics?), it's important to realize that for many people, it is a source of grave torment. It's also not the purpose of PHV to recast negative experiences in such a way as to assume that everyone would be just fine with their voices if they simply weaned themselves off medication and took up herbal tinctures and yoga instead. Many people's stories are as nightmarish as they are bizarre. The following are excerpts of stories shared by PHV attendees who wished to remain anonymous: I was lying off the edge of my bed, and looking to the window. For hours I stared in a trance as the trees gently moved from the wind. I felt as if my tongue was as thick as a strand of my hair, and vice versa. I can't fully describe how frightening and horrible of a feeling that was, but it would occur from time to time when everything around me would be silent. I started hearing voices?a new symptom for me. They were God and Jesus' voices, tormenting me. They informed me that I had crossed a barrier that should have been impossible to cross, and therefore had corrupted the perfection and order of the universe. Also, God told me that I brought venereal disease into heaven, and that it was spreading.... There was a great deal of blasphemous content in my thoughts, which made me very fearful and paranoid. The voices finally drove me to two more suicide attempts, stating that this was how I could correct the harm I had done. It's essential to PHV's purpose to include and recognize the legitimacy of the full spectrum of voice hearing, with respect for the individual choices made to address it. PHV's founder, Will Hall, has undergone a personal journey marked by horrific events of his own, beginning with voices and fearful out-of-body experiences since childhood. Over the course of his life, Hall has been subjected to destructive side effects caused by prescribed medication (from mania to weight gain to the aggravation of his suicidal urges), isolated and confined against his wishes in public psychiatric wards, and shuttled through a system that treated him as a problem that needed to be controlled rather than a person in need of help. For a time during the mid-'90s, he was homeless, living in a tent in Forest Park after being kicked out of the then-sketchy Ben Stark Hotel (now the Ace Hotel) when he ran out of money. "I once got into trouble with the manager there because I was crying so loud in my room nonstop it was disturbing the tenants," he remembers. "Those were scary days." Moving Forward The Will Hall of recent years has become something of a celebrity in Mad Pride circles. He was recently profiled in a Newsweek article about the Icarus Project, with which he has been involved in various capacities, including as a frequent interviewer on Madness Radio, and as the author of the Harm Reduction Guide to Coming off Psychiatric Drugs?both projects are collaborations between Icarus and the Freedom Center, another support group in Massachusetts co-founded by Hall. In addition to his activism, Hall is now an avid practitioner of meditation and yoga (he started yoga after one of his voices, in a rare helpful moment during the bad years, told him if he didn't begin practicing yoga he was going to die). With the guidance of a herbologist, he is learning from his "very strong relationship to plants, including sage, nettle, yerba santa, and eleuthero." Along with StarBear, Hall is currently studying at the Process Work Institute in Portland, a nonprofit institute teaching process-oriented psychology. He attributes the progressiveness of this institution as the primary reason for his return to the area. "When I was growing up, I wanted to be a magician," remembers Hall. "Then I wanted to be a biologist, then I wanted to be a psychologist, then I wanted to be a community organizer, then I wanted to be a philosopher. Now I'm sort of all of them." SIDEBAR: Portland Hearing Voices Portland Hearing Voices meetings are scheduled to take place several times a month at the Downtown Chapel (601 W Burnside), Monday nights from 6-7:30 pm, beginning with a Holistic Mental Health Education group on July 6. For updates and more information, including opportunities to volunteer and donate, go to http://portlandhearingvoices.net . - end - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please forward. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ REMEMBER: It's easy to log on to the Mercury web site to create an account, and post a "comment." Original article on Mercury web site: http://tinyurl.com/mad-mercury ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To read Newsweek Mad Pride article featuring Will Hall click here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/195694 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MindFreedom Oregon is a proud member of the Oregon Consumer/Survivor Coalition! OCSC is the culmination of decades of community organizing in Oregon, building a united coalition despite zero funding for six years from the State of Oregon. For info about Oregon Consumer/Survivor Coalition, which unites more than a dozen mental health consumer and psychiatric survivor groups in Oregon, just google these words: Oregon Consumer Survivor Coalition ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MINDFREEDOM SUMMER '09 SUPPORT DRIVE Unite to change mental health care! Join, renew, donate to MindFreedom International today, click here: http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please forward this alert to all supportive people on and off the Internet, now! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Want to stop getting these free public MF Oregon news alerts? Two easy ways: 1) To unsubscribe send a blank email to mindfreedom-oregon-news-unsubscribe at intenex.net Be sure to "reply" when you get the automatic unsubscribe confirmation message in a few moments. (If you do not receive that confirmation request, check your spam filter for it.) 2) Have trouble getting off this list? Just e-mail to office at mindfreedom.org If you e-mail from the same address where you received this alert, just put the following in your "subject line," the message can be blank: unsubscribe mindfreedom-oregon-news If you have alternate e-mail addresses that may be receiving this alert by error, let the office know the exact address(es) to remove from the mindfreedom-oregon-news list at: office at mindfreedom.org From mindfreedom-oregon-news at intenex.net Fri Jul 17 16:10:54 2009 From: mindfreedom-oregon-news at intenex.net (Public announcement list for Oregonians about human rights in the mental health system. ) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:10:54 -0700 Subject: Still asking: Why zero in Oregon for state-wide consumer/survivor voice? Message-ID: <0A5CE16B-4151-4233-912B-8C02C6EF8C4B@mindfreedom.org> 17 July 2009 - MindFreedom Oregon Alert Unite to Change Mental Health Care! http://www.mindfreedom.org/oregon - please forward HOW OREGONIANS CAN KEEP ASKING: "Why is Oregon one of few states to provide zero (0) for state- wide voice of mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors?" by David Oaks, Director, MindFreedom International Summer 2009. A great time to be an Oregonian. We've had a lot of berries in our yard. On a camping trip to the coast I finally saw a live wild bear. I got to fall in the mud at the Oregon Country Fair. Hey, it was fun. I reluctantly left the Oregon summer briefly, to fly to New York City to get taped for a national television news show about MAD PRIDE, probably to be aired sometime in August. We'll keep you posted. Oh, and a few weeks ago, on the 29th of June, the Oregon legislative session ended. The State of Oregon mental health system quickly sent out a "stakeholder" letter that sounded like a big sigh of relief. It turns out Oregon's mental health budget is not as bad as they had feared. For instance, they got a hold of some of President Obama's stimulus money. That raises a question MindFreedom Oregon has asked for nearly seven years: Why zero? Why does the State of Oregon continue to be one of the very few USA States to provide nothing -- zero -- for the state-wide voice and empowerment of mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors? Heck, not even a dollar of stimulus money? Why? YOU can keep asking that question, too! You ought to! It's your tax money! The "sigh of relief" letter I received from the State of Oregon was on 6 July 2009. It was from Richard Harris, who is Interim Assistant Director, Addictions and Mental Health Division, State of Oregon. Mr. Harris took the place of Bob Nikkel. I immediately responded to Mr. Harris that day, asking "why zero?" I asked for a reply by 30 July 2009. Oregon mental health advocates may recognize that date: It's the one year anniversary of the passing of the amazing, outrageous mental health consumer/psychiatric survivor advocate DAVE ROMPREY. We all have our ways of remembering a friend. I am remembering my friend by asking for an answer to our "why zero" question by 30 July 2009. Want to join me? Please do! Please e-mail Mr. Richard Harris here: Richard.harris at state.or.us Put the "Why Zero" question in your own words, or you can just ask this: "Why does Oregon continue to provide zero for the state-wide voice of mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors? Please respond by 30 July" If you have an extra moment, copy your question to Governor Ted Kulongoski. Use his convenient web form here: http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/contact_us.shtml At the start of this legislative session, the Governor overrode the recommendation of Bob Nikkel to fund the state-wide consumer/survivor voice. Ted said no way, there was absolutely no money. Then Ted fired Bob. Turns out Ted ended up with more money than he thought. Just not one dollar for the state-wide empowerment of their system's clients. Ted has about 18 months left in office. He should remember what Governor John Kitzhaber told The Oregonian when he left office: That what he remembered most from his career was the disempowerment of mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors. Meanwhile, construction plans move forward in Oregon on some of the few brand new, great big state psychiatric institutions being built anywhere in the USA, to the tune of half a billion dollars, all during a financial crisis. Something is not okay. Ask: "Why Zero?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOR MORE INFO ON THE "WHY ZERO" CAMPAIGN: MindFreedom has a "gateway" page about the "Why Zero" Campaign. Here you can find that "sigh of relief" letter from Mr. Harris -- including both text and PDF versions -- along with my response, and other news: http://mindfreedom.org/zero ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ REMEMBER ROMPREY.... We are glad to hear there will be a memorial for Dave Romprey in Salem, one year and one day after his death, including a dedication of a bench, a planting of a tree, and a reception, on 31 July 2009. All are invited, both those who knew Dave, and those who want to be near his spirit of justice for all in the mental health system. For links to the calendar item about Dave Romprey's memorial, as well as to other photos and info about him, go to the MindFreedom Romprey Gateway here: http://www.mindfreedom.org/romprey I especially enjoy the photo on that gateway page of Dave Romprey "Storming the Bastille." Kind of reminds me of that bear I saw. Turns out a couple of people freed in the Bastille in Paris long ago were psychiatric survivors. Bastille Day, 14 July, has been a day to celebrate the human rights of psychiatric survivors since 1981. And that, in case you're wondering, is why July is also MAD PRIDE month. What a great month to remember Dave Romprey, and build MAD PRIDE! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MORE INFO ON MINDFREEDOM OREGON To find out more about our state-wide affiliate, go to the gateway for MindFreedom Oregon here: http://www.mindfreedom.org/oregon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SUPPORT MINDFREEDOM! NOW MORE THAN EVER, UNITE TO CHANGE THE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM! If you are not yet a member of MindFreedom International, summer is a great time to JOIN, during MFI's support campaign! If you are a member, it's a great time to renew early. In other words, please donate now! http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donate There's info there about you can quickly, securely and easily donate to MindFreedom online, or by phone, fax, postal mail, or just drop by here at the office in Eugene. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Keep enjoying the Oregon summer, keep asking those questions, and let's help our "Mad Movement" get as strong as an Oregon bear! In support, David David W. Oaks, Executive Director MindFreedom International 454 Willamette, Suite 216 - POB 11284 Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA web: http://www.mindfreedom.org email: office at mindfreedom.org office phone: (541) 345-9106 fax: (480) 287-8833 member services toll free in USA: 1-877-MAD-PRID[e] or 1-877-623-7743 MindFreedom International: Unite to Change Mental Health Care "Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted." - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. From mindfreedom-oregon-news at intenex.net Sun Jul 26 18:01:07 2009 From: mindfreedom-oregon-news at intenex.net (Public announcement list for Oregonians about human rights in the mental health system. ) Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:01:07 -0700 Subject: Tomorrow 7/27: Live radio interview: 'Schizophrenia' film premieres in Oregon Message-ID: <4FF38A7C-45B8-431D-BA6F-CB768EB9FA90@mindfreedom.org> MindFreedom Oregon News One Choice is No Choice: Film Explores Non-Drug Alternatives for People Diagnosed "Schizophrenic" Hear RON UNGER interviewed by KLCC-FM's TRIPP SOMMER about the Oregon premiere of a new, controversial movie, "Take These Broken Wings." This fascinating documentary challenges "normal" thinking about what is considered "schizophrenia." The live interview can be heard in a large stretch of Oregon: Eugene KLCC 89.7; Cottage Grove KLCC 91.5; Oakridge KLCC 91.5; Riddle KLCC 103.9; Sisters KLCC 90.3; Bend KLBR 88.1; Florence KLFO 88.1; Newport KLCO 90.5; Reedsport KLFR 89.1; Roseburg KMPQ 88.1 Or hear it online anywhere at http://www.klcc.org The radio interview with Ron Unger is *TOMORROW* Monday, 27 July 2009, at 4:10 pm on KLCC-FM's "Northwest Passage." Ron Unger, a mental health therapist and coordinator of MindFreedom Lane County, courageously promotes non-drug alternatives for people diagnosed as "psychotic." The free Oregon premiere of the film will be in Eugene the very next day. DETAILS ARE BELOW. ~~~~~~~ For a link to download a PDF of flyer about the below free film premiere, click here: http://tinyurl.com/wings-200907 ~~~~~~~ FREE FILM PREMIERE! Green Mind Film Series Presents... When: *THIS* Tuesday, July 28, 2009 -- 6:30 PM Film: "Take These Broken Wings" -- EUGENE PREMIERE! Where: Eugene Public Library, Bascom-Tykeson Room. BEAT THE HEAT FREE! FULLY AIR-CONDITIONED WITH FREE ICED BEVERAGES, POPCORN AND SNACKS! This is the second of three films in the Green Mind Summer Film Series sponsored by MindFreedom and Opal Network, brought to you free by a grant from VALID* (*Violence and Abuse in the Lives of Individuals with Disabilities). Bring a friend! Get there early! The first film almost filled the room! Immediately following this Tuesday's film showing, linger for a while. Join in a lively moderated discussion with a panel of a family member, psychiatric survivor and therapist: ** Katina Andoniadis, mother of a young man diagnosed "schizophrenic," counselor and theater director ** Hugh Massengill, psychiatric survivor and long-time human rights advocate ** Ron Unger, mental health counselor and coordinator of MindFreedom Lane County. See his web site: http://recoveryfromschizophrenia.org/ ~~~~~~~ URGENT -- PLEASE FORWARD THIS NEWS FLASH TO ALL INTERESTED PEOPLE ON AND OFF INTERNET! ~~~~~~~ ABOUT THE FILM "TAKE THESE BROKEN WINGS": What is schizophrenia? Is is possible to recover from the mental and emotional problems that are labeled schizophrenia, rather than depend on a lifetime of psychiatric medications? Though much of the mental health establishment maintains that drug- free complete healing for serious mental health problems like schizophrenia is impossible, this documentary by Daniel Mackler tells the stories of two women who both fully recovered from severe schizophrenia. The film traces the roots of their problems to childhood trauma and details their successful psychotherapy with gifted clinicians. Mixed in with these two recovery stories are: ** The recollections of therapists who have helped people facilitate their own recoveries ** Scientific evidence from the established literature. ** Snippets of interviews with over 100 passers-by in New York City who express public perceptions about schizophrenia. The film uses wit and humor without losing the seriousness of the film's message. You may view the film trailer at http://www.iraresoul.com/dvd.html For info about The Green Your Mind Film Series contact MindFreedom International, a nonprofit coalition united to win human rights and alternatives in mental health care. Phone: (541) 345-9106 E-mail: office at mindfreedom.org For more info about above film showing, including link to download PDF flyer, click here: http://tinyurl.com/wings-200907 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Also mark your calendar for two other MindFreedom events in August: ** Wednesday, 5 August 2009 -- 5:30 pm First Wednesday RoundTable Special topic: The Mad Student: Campus Organizing to Change the Mental Health System! Panel of discussants includes STEVE BERK, University of Oregon Student. Plenty of fans and iced beverages to stay cool! WHERE: RoundTable by MindFreedom Office, at historic Growers Market, 454 Willamette, Suite 216 ** Tuesday, 25 August 2009 -- 6:30 pm -- Eugene Public Library Third and final film in Green Mind Summer Film Series: "Doctor Who Hears Vocies" More info: http://tinyurl.com/hear-voice WHERE: Eugene Public Library ~~~~~~~~~~~~ PLEASE FORWARD THIS ANNOUNCEMENT ~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's a great time to join, renew, and donate to MindFreedom International! Be part of the MindFreedom Summer 2009 Support Drive! Just click here: http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donate