Psychiatric Abuse
Madness Radio: Talking About Suicidal Feelings David Webb
How common are suicidal feelings? Is a psychiatric illness behind suicidal despair -- or a meaningful and even spiritual life crisis? Does forced hospitalization really provide help? Suicide attempt survivor David Webb, author of Thinking About Suicide: Contemplating and Comprehending the Urge to Die, discusses how speaking openly about suicidal feelings, rather than reacting with panic and fear, is the best form of suicide prevention. http://www.jungcircle.com/DWebb.html http://thinkingaboutsuicide.org/
Madness Radio: Therapy for Psychosis Daniel Mackler
Can therapy reach people in extreme states of "psychosis" -- without using medications? Do we need to give a diagnosis to help someone? Why are counselors afraid to listen to their "mad" clients? New York psychotherapist and filmmaker Daniel Mackler discusses how be defied social work training in his work with people labeled with schizophrenia and bipolar, and what he learned from recent visits to successful treatment alternatives in Northern Europe. Daniel is the filmmaker of Take These Broken Wings and co-author with Matthew Morrissey of A Way Out of Madness. http://www.iraresoul.com
Madness Radio: Prison Mental Health Terry Kupers
The US incarcerates more people than any country in the world - and 70% are people of color. Do we need better mental health care inside prisons -- or do prisons themselves cause trauma and madness? Psychiatrist and civil lawsuit expert witness Dr.Terry Kupers, author of Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It, discusses overcrowding, racism, sensory deprivation, isolation, and sexual abuse in the disgraceful US prison system. www.afsc.org/stopmax www.criticalresistance.org www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights
Madness Radio: Schizophrenia Psychotherapy Catherine Penney
Can a severe, chronic case of "schizophrenia" ever recover? Is psychotherapy an alternative to medications? What role does trauma play in madness? Hear the inspiring story of how Catherine Penney, RN, was catatonic and locked in a hospital back ward for years, and then emerged to create a new alternative healing community. www.dantescure.com www.desertgathering.com www.iraresoul.com/dvd.html
Madness Radio: Survivor Spoken Word Leah Harris
Leah Harris was orphaned after both parents were diagnosed with schizophrenia and died from medication toxicity. Today she is a leading voice in survivor activism, and her powerful spoken word poetry, including "I Was A Teenage Mental Patient," has been featured in publications including Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution, and DC Poets against the War: An Anthology. Leah is also the co-coordinator of the US Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry. Buy her new cd "Take Refuge" at the National Empowerment Center: http://bit.ly/7f5kyN. www.myspace.com/dharmamamaleah, www.usnusp.org/
Madness Radio: Recovery and Diagnosis Lisa Darbyshire
How can a chaotic and oppressive family life lead to trauma and extreme states? Do medications and diagnosis provide help, or can they make things worse? Psychiatric abuse survivor Lisa Darbyshire, Massachusetts organizer with the Freedom Center and the Recovery Learning Community, discusses her personal experiences of hospitalization and recovery, including the struggle with learned helplessness and dependence. www.freedom-center.org. www.westernmassrlc.org.
Madness Radio: Conscience of Psychiatry Peter Breggin
What do modern psychiatric drug treatments have in common with lobotomy? Is informed consent possible when patients' judgment is impaired by medication? Should psych drugs be banned? For more than 50 years Dr. Peter Breggin has been a leading crusader against psychiatric abuse, Big Pharma, and medication dangers. His latest book is The Conscience of Psychiatry: The Reform Work of Peter R. Breggin, MD. www.breggin.com
Madness Radio: Hearing Voices Movement Jacqui Dillon
What is it like to hear voices? How do people learn to live with their voices, and are voices sometimes positive and helpful? What is the connection between voices and trauma? Jacqui Dillon, voice hearer and director of the UK Hearing Voices Network, discusses how the movement of people who hear voices is creating self-help alternatives to traditional and often abusive mental health care. www.intervoiceonline.org, www.caslcampaign.com.
Madness Radio: Electroshock Deception Linda Andre
Why is ECT, electroconvulsive therapy or electroshock, so widely used today? How is the ECT industry manipulating research and public perceptions the way tobacco companies did about cigarettes? What are the real dangers of this lobotomy-era treatment? ECT survivor Linda Andre discusses her groundbreaking new Rutgers University Press book, Doctors of Deception: What They Don't Want You To Know About Shock Treatment. www.doctorsofdeception.com; www.ect.org.
Madness Radio: Transgender Spirituality Machete Mendias
Is madness part of a deeper calling? How is being transgender -- transitioning from one gender to another -- a spiritual process? Machete Mendias, female-to-male transgender activist and artist, discusses his life beyond the borders of gender identity, normality, and conventional definitions. Machete describes his childhood experiences with visions, ritual self-harm and hair-pulling (trichotillomania), and medications, as well as the role of transgendered people as healers, mystics, and shamans.
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