About Us

The Icarus Project envisions a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of extreme states of consciousness rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework. We are a network of people living with the dangerous gifts that are commonly labeled as bipolar or related 'mental illness.'

The Icarus Project is a collaborative, participatory adventure fueled by inspiration and mutual aid. We bring the Icarus vision to reality through an Icarus national staff collective and a grassroots network of autonomous local support groups across the US and beyond.

To read more about our mission, vision, and work, check out the full text of our mission statement. To learn more about our working process, including meeting minutes, budgets, and other documents related to organizing and administration of the Icarus Project, please visit our Open Plans site. For latest news and updates, read the Icarus blog. We're non-profit and donation driven; please consider making a donation if you can, even $10 helps keep us going.

Welcome...

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Read more about Icarus and our website here...

How To Get Involved

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The Icarus Project is a wild collaborative adventure bringing together an unruly band of co-conspirators from near and far. We want you to find a place to fit in and join us, whether it's sharing your experiences of madness on our community forums, donating money, organizing a community group, or anything you can dream up.

Madness Radio Weekly

Icarus and Freedom Center co-produce a weekly radio show on all things madness-related, syndicated through Pacifica. Guests range from author Kate Bornstein and Adbusters publisher Kalle Lasn to Icarus Project members and anyone who has been through extreme states of madness. Ask your local station to broadcast the show! Check it out at www.madnessradio.net; archives and podcast available.

Campaign for a New Diagnosis in the DSM: World Domination Disorder

The DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the 'yellow pages' of mental illness diagnosis, has an online page inviting people to suggest new mental illnesses for its upcoming fifth edition. Join an international campaign to log in to the DSM site and add World Domination Disorder, with the case study based on one example: George Bush. You can spread this url: http://snipurl.com/NewDSMDiagnosis.

Site Login System Streamlined

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Login system streamlined -- if you're confused, read this...

Contact Us

To contact the friendly folks at the Icarus Project with questions or comments write us at:
info(at)theicarusproject(dot)net
local mental health organizing specifically:
support(at)theicarusproject(dot)net
to send us letters or anything:
The Icarus Project c/o Fountain House 425 West 47th street New York, NY 10036
or phone:

877 787 5883
(877-7-URLUVD)

Icarus Project Mission Statement

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The full text of our Mission statement, including our mission, work, and vision.

Friends Make the Best Medicine: Icarus Support Manual Draft

Download and print out the first draft of our long-awaited Support Manual, titled Friends Make the Best Medicine: A Guide to Creating Community Mental Health Support Networks.

Donate to The Icarus Project!

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Click here for info on making a tax-deductible donation to help this work continue!

Icarus Staff Bios

COMING SOON: Meet the five part-time Icarus project national staff. For more details on what we're up to, take a look at our organizational planning wiki site at www.openplans.org/projects/icarusproject.

Origins and Purpose

When we first created The Icarus Project, we tried to create an inspiring manifesto about the experience of "mental illness" which draws its strength from myth and metaphor as opposed to the paradigms of disease and dysfunction. Here is our original mission statement"¦

Email Conflict Policy for Volunteers, Interns, and Staff

Our policy for dealing with difficult communication over email and the internet which easily gets blown out of proportion. We recommend a similar policy for everyone.

Press Coverage of Icarus

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Coverage of the Icarus Project in the news media.

How To Use This Site

Guides and info on using the Icarus website, including how-tos on contributing and editing content, events calendar, etc.

RSS Feeds

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Info on Icarus content through rss feeds.

Skillshares, Trainings, and Speaking Engagements

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Icarus staff have done public speaking across the US and even in Europe, we've organized skillshares, and we ar developing trainings for organizers and peer counselors. We work on an ability-to-pay basis: if you might want to set something up in your community, contact us!

Link to Icarus!

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Code to copy and paste for an Icarus button/badge/banner on your site or blog, as well as the Icarus news and photo feeds.

Wellness Policy for Volunteers, Interns, and Staff

Our national office policy governing wellness and sustainability in how we work together and accomodation for experiences and conditions labeled as mental illnesses. We encourage local groups to develop similar policies and practices to prevent burnout and promote sustainabilty.

Grievances and Ethical Concerns

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A key aspect of radical mental health is voicing grievances, airing differences, and opening up healing discussions about how oppression in our own movement affects our work.

National And Local Group Handbook for Working Together

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A draft of the work-in-progress handbook outlining how local groups collaborate and interact with the national Icarus staff and vision. Looks at autonomy, finances, shared vision, and principles.

Dandelion Visions and Windborne Seeds

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Bare ground does not stay bare. Tenacious plants called pioneer species find ways to spread and extend roots deep into the soil, providing homes for all kinds of other creatures and enriching the soil over their cycles of life and death. Many of the most common pioneer plants are the ones we are trained to see as weeds; plants like the dandelion whose strong taproot extends far below the depleted topsoil to the deep layers of subsoil that hold hidden minerals far underground. The dandelion pulls these up and incorporates them into its leaves and flowers; when it dies all the nutrients that were locked underground join the upper layers of soil and make them available to the next generations of plants.

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