Psychiatric survivors movement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Psychiatric survivors movement is a loose coalition of people who, united in the belief that they have been harmed or betrayed by psychiatry, advocate in favor of improved civil rights and mental health treatment alternatives for those diagnosed with (or simply accused of being afflicted by) mental illnesses. It is also called the consumer survivors movement.
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[edit] Rejection of psychiatric doctrine and/or practices
Some people considered mentally ill, and subsequently (mis-)treated by certain psychiatrists or by psychiatric doctrine in general, do not benefit from the services offered or forced upon them. Many respond with outrage to a system which judges them to be mentally ill, because they consider there to be a value bias within psychiatry that undermines the judgment of psychiatrists, pharmaceutical companies, and the legal oversight of the mental health system. Many also view interventions made in the name of help to be coercive and inherently violent in nature. Some have suffered through sexual abuse or intense physical discomfort they consider torture (e.g., insulin shock therapy) by psychiatrists; others have had loved ones die from psychiatric treatment (see Chelmsford royal commission). The psychiatric survivors movement grew out of these experiences, though there are perhaps earlier inspirations for the movement (e.g., anti-psychiatry and the opposition of surrealism to psychiatry). Other influences include the civil rights movement.
[edit] History of movement
The beginning of a formal movement is often attributed to Howard Geld, or Howie the Harp, and the formation of the Insane Liberation Front in Portland, Oregon, in 1969. Many other local initiatives followed, many of them with Howie's direct participation, and most owing to his articulation of peer alternatives to traditional treatment methods, and demonstrated success in funding and operating peer-operated service centers. A coalition of such programs meets annually at the Alternatives conference.
MindFreedom International and the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry have also played important roles in the psychiatric survivors movement.
[edit] See also
- Biological psychiatry
- Care in the Community
- Chemical imbalance theory
- Consumer/Survivor Movement
- History of mental illness
- International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology
- Involuntary commitment
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
- Outpatient commitment
- Psychiatric hospital
- Psychosurgery
- TeenScreen
- Texas Medication Algorithm Project
[edit] External links
- MHSelfHelp.org - National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse
- Tristano-Ajmone.oism.info - 'Tristano Jonathan Ajmone Psychiatric Survivor (personal website of an Italian survivor)
- WordPress.com - 'Writhe Safely: Confronting society, stabbing psychiatry, with loads of lovely love.'
