Crazy or Religious? | Alison Smith | Madness Radio
Does hearing God’s voice make you mentally ill? Will psychiatry help you cope with grief and rejection – or make things worse? After a distressing romantic breakup Alison Smith went to her college clinic for help – and was locked up, drugged, and labeled psychotic. Positive and mysterious voices – including visions of Jesus – suddenly turned dark and persecutory, and Alison was driven into psychiatry-induced madness. Co-hosts Will Hall and Jacks McNamara join Alison to discuss religious voices – and psychiatric violence to suppress them. Alison’s writing has appeared in Granta, Real Simple, and PBS’s Stories from the Stage, and her acclaimed memoir Name All the Animals was named a ten best books of the year by People magazine (yes, that People magazine). A coming of age story, Name All the Animals opens on the day Alison’s brother died in a car crash and explores themes of grief, faith and sexuality. Alison lives in Northampton, MA and is working on a new memoir about hearing voices. www.namealltheanimals.com Transcript 58 min version
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Thank you so much for a wonderful and insightful interview with Alison Smith, being a voice and vision hearer myself it was so interesting hearing Alison´s story about her experience with the psychiatric system and how they perceive visions. It was also truly inspiring how Alison´s visions were connected to religion and so true that it is more an altered state and can be an awe-inspiring experience. I also laughed and felt so connected to all of you guys. Lots of love to Madness Radio from Denmark and Cæcilie