Mad Pride is a mass movement of mental health services users and their allies. The first known event specifically organized as a Pride event by people who identify as psychiatric survivors/consumer/ex-patients was in Toronto, Canada when it was called "Psychiatric Survivor Pride Day", held on September 18, 1993. It was first held in response to local community prejudices towards people with a psychiatric history living in boarding homes in the Parkdale area of the city, and has been held every year since then in this city except 1996.[1] By the late 1990s similar events were being organized as Mad Pride in London, England and around the globe from Australia to South Africa and the United States, drawing thousands of participants, according to MindFreedom International, a United States mental health advocacy organization that promotes and tracks events spawned by the movement.[2]
Mad Pride activists seek to reclaim terms such as 'mad', 'nutter' and 'psycho' from misuse, such as in tabloid newspapers. Through a series of mass media campaigns, Mad Pride activists seek to re-educate the general public on such subjects as the causes of mental disorders, the experiences of those using the mental health system, and the global suicide pandemic. One of Mad Pride's founding activists was Pete Shaughnessy, who later committed suicide.[3] Robert Dellar and 'Freaky Phil' Murphy were among the other founders of the movement. Mad Pride: A celebration of mad culture records the early Mad Pride movement.[4]
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Mad Pride was launched alongside a book of the same name, Mad Pride: A celebration of mad culture, published in 2000.[4] On May 11, 2008, Gabrielle Glaser documented Mad Pride in The New York Times.[5] Glaser stated, "Just as gay-rights activists reclaimed the word queer as a badge of honor rather than a slur, these advocates proudly call themselves mad; they say their conditions do not preclude them from productive lives." The Mad Pride (see gay pride for more on gay rights) movement was further mentioned in The Huffington Post.[6]
The Mad Pride movement has spawned recurring cultural events in Toronto, London, and other cities around the world. These events often include music, poetry readings, film screenings, and street theatre, such as 'bed push' protests, which aim to raise awareness about the poor levels of choice of treatments and the widespread use of force in psychiatric hospitals.[7] Commentaries on the Mad Pride movement have been made by such literary luminaries as the English Republican Jonathan Freedland[8] and popular novelist Clare Allan.[9] Mad Pride cultural events take a variety of forms, such as the South London collective Creative Routes, the Chipmunka Publishing enterprise, and the many works of Dolly Sen.[10]
Mad Pride Week in Toronto is proclaimed as such by the city itself. Highlighted by the MAD! Pride Bed Push, the festival is now in its fourteenth year. A series of bed push events take place around London each year.[11]
The ABC-TV show Primetime Outsiders ran a segment about Mad Pride on August 25, 2009 that included interviews with actor Joey Pantoliano; musician Madigan Shive; and David W. Oaks, Director, MindFreedom International.[12]