A letter to my father backing him up radically, while coaching the idea of seeking to "hold our own" --with our intuitive champion excellence-- amongst and in the context of a heavily-propagandized colonial society with its meta orders for how its subjects "must" act at all times. Men and women (who are tired of not "fitting in"). We all have or Ordered roles to "play" but after awhile, and especially as we are forced to face the Great Unknown of passing on from this life, we naturally begin to dissent. Usually we're way too unpracticed in this, and much less articulate. Here, my father and i at least have a rudimenatry bridge. Stay tuned to possibly read an edited version of my father's possible response (tho not likely, i hope he writes me back!).

cemental stealth (aka mental "health") survivors articulate ideas like "sane chauvanism" and "mentalism" to denote oppressive ways of seeing folks having difficulties in living. Judi Chamberlin, published in a prestigious journal, articulates such in her overview of a mostly 1970s-1980s ex-mental patient liberation movement. Excerpts and link included.

"We should recognize that the infiltration of value judgements into 'objective' terminology is not just loose talk, a psychological weakness of scientists; to classify actions which are seen as a threat to society as malignant process is a means of repression more final and devastating in its effects than any overt condemnation."--David Ingelby (important for understanding the culture of oppression in which human scientists, including psychiatrists, operate within)

Searching via scroogle.org today I stumbled across some excellent excerpts of two books which are VERY hard to find these days (unless, of course, you have the cash to buy from amazon or a bookstore's used-books search). First, a link to a real nice excerpt from Theodore Roszak on "the myth of objective consciousness"; second, a link to Aldous Huxley's especially interesting nonfiction book (in its ENTIRETY!) Brave New World--Revisited, excerpts which I'm providing here. The topic? The perils of "over-organization", suppressing symptoms, and the authoritarian attitudes that are making their way into many mind-sets these days regarding what it "is" to be "normal" and so forth.

This post takes on the curiously popularized notion--in Julie Cameron's book The Artist's Way--of the categorical 'badness' of people she (and her "expert" ilk) seek to reduce and label, and then promote that their fellows ignore them, until they get professional "help". Crucially, she (and the usual routine of "experts" "just doing their jobs") don't shed light on the reality that such "crazy-makers" are quite likely only exhibiting SYMPTOMS of their pain, even when their symptoms are INTENSE and not easy to be around. The popularized thing to do? IGNORE the most sensitive and go back to work doing what you can "only" do! DON'T try to look behind their pain and help them articulate themselves, say, via any truly meaningful community!! NO, THAT'S not for YOU laypersons/"non-experts" to "play" around with!! (BAD DOG!)

Icaristas Sam Kendakur, Will Hall, and Bonfire Madigan Shive presented at the Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis: Alternative Responses to First Breaks conference in New York City. They joined more than 200 researchers, people with psychiatric diagnoses, policymakers, clinicians, advocates, and family members from several countries including Finland and the UK to discuss effective hospital, labeling, and force alternatives. Check out the slideshow here, and more info at the International Network Towards Alternatives for Recovery website.