Also

[sabotabby]

I'm still uncomfortable with the concepts and rhetoric that make up Mad Pride.

Comments

[outcastspice.livejournal.com]

Based on only the wikipedia entry, i'm kind of into it. tell me about the problems? (if you have time and inclination, of course)

[lemur-catta.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard enough of the rhetoric to know if I'd have a similar reaction. Is there some underlying idea that 'madness' is just a different way of perceiving that shouldn't be treated like a disease? If it was just about combating the stigma and misconceptions ,or 'coming out' as a mental patient with nothing to be ashamed of,then that sounds like a good thing but, if it creates some kind of pressure to embrace my condition and celebrate it, that is kind of unsettling.

[springheel-jack.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't really regard myself as a "survivor of psychiatry." I'm a survivor, if I'm a "survivor" (that's another crap trope), of mental illness.

[misslynx.livejournal.com]

Me too. I've read various articles and other exhortations from that crowd, urging "mad" people to embrace our conditions, celebrate them, enjoy them, consider them unique qualities to be proud of, etc. And all I could think was that whatever sorts of mental illness the authors had, it probably wasn't depression, any kind of anxiety disorder, or anything else that's seriously non-enjoyable. It's hard to be happy and proud about finding life intolerable and regularly wanting to die, you know?

There certainly are some forms of mental "difference" that come with features as well as bugs. ADHD, for sure, and I've heard people say the same about at least some forms of autism. And I will freely admit to enjoying the hell out of hypomania and wishing I could order it up on demand. But not every mental illness/difference/condition is like that, and to suggest that they're all things people should enjoy and be proud of having is a gross overgeneralization, and really disrespectful to people who are struggling with conditions that make their lives hell.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

Seems very similar to pro-mia and pro-ana people.

The sad part is that even when they DO make good points about the psychiatric methodologies of treating mental illness, their points are invalidated and ignored by the overall extremism of the movement.

[metalana.livejournal.com]

I wonder if one's viewpoint on psychiatry depends on whether one has
a) a mood disorder treatable with tolerable side effects
b) some disorder that is only marginally treatable, with nasty side effects
c) one of those disorders that makes you suspicious or paranoid about psychiatrists

I agree with you that there should be greater compromise between anti-psychiatry and pro-psychiatry.

[terry-terrible.livejournal.com]

Me too. I can't really celebrate or be proud of something that has seriously fucked up my life and stressed out my friends and family.

I'm reading The Noonday Monster right now, have you've read it?

[lemur-catta.livejournal.com]

I think there's more than a little romanticism to it as well. There's that whole crazy,tormented artist , 'touched by fire' thing. There's the notion that left to themselves and free of their opressors, mental patients would have a delightfully eccentric, colourful community a la King of Hearts and live in a state of edenic contentment.

On one hand, it's not a bad coping strategy to be able to think of oneself that way rather than in negative terms but, I think it's something of a trap to think of creativity , individuality, or enhanced/different sensory experience, being necessarily linked to entirely unpleasant and debilitating things like depression, self-harming impulses, paranoia or agoraphobia.

It's exactly that kind of thinking that made me really hesitant to try medication for my condition. I had a fear that it would take something away from me that was essential to my identity. I asked friends who appreciated that side of me keep to an eye on me for that reason. I'm very happy to say that when I finally found useful treatment, it most certainly didnt turn me 'normal' suppress any desirable aspects of my personality or diminish my creativity in the least. If anything, all the aspects that I liked about my different way of experiencing the world were magnified because the self-consciousness, depression and out of control feelings were mostly removed or at least manageable.

I understand that for many people useful treatment isn't yet available and the existing options are frequently worse than nothing. I know I got particularly lucky. My point is that treatment that retains and even enhances all the positives someone might think of as part of the mental illness package is ultimately possible. That's what makes a trend towards embracing the whole package as inseperable or having some kind of causal relationship disturbing.

[audrawilliams.livejournal.com]

I haven't known a single Deaf adult who wanted to be hearing.

[rackletang.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan, personally, but then I'd be way worse off without modern antidepressants.

[seaya.livejournal.com]

Psst! I met someone who told me about this: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapentadol

She says it does really well with her chronic pain and leaves her more lucid.

[intangir-heath.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of "mad pride", but I'd arrange to have both my legs sawn off if it meant I didn't have my fucking mental problems anymore.