Spirituality

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.

UK clinical psychologist Rufus May descended into madness -- convinced he was on a spy mission and that animals were robots, he even walked into a family gathering naked. How did Rufus find meaning in these experiences, learn to live without medication, and become a successful psychologist and mental health advocate? Rufus was recently featured in the Channel 4 feature film The Doctor Who Hears Voices. www.rufusmay.com

Advocate and bipolar survivor Steven Morgan talks about his experiences with spirituality and meditation, including healing through dream work. Listen to the recent profile the New York Times did of Steven at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/07/16/health/healthguide/TE_BIPO... and check out Steven's writing at www.vermontrecovery.com.

UK video activist and writer Mel Gunasena on her mystical experiences and forced psychiatric hospitalization. Mel is the director of Evolving Minds, a documentary film about spiritual experiences and what gets labeled "psychosis" by the mental health system. She also discusses the art therapy project in Sri Lanka she helped found to assist traumatized tsunami-affected children. See a trailer for the film at www.undercurrents.org/minds and check out the Sri Lanka project at www.art-2-art.org/.