The {Lun}Archy Front

restless-wind:

I am a person with bipolar disorder and as such, I identify as “mad.” (The psychiatric survivors movement has reclaimed the word “mad,” much in the way queer rights activists have reclaimed the word “queer.”)

Words like “crazy” and “psycho” are ableist in that they discriminate against certain people who are, or are PERCEIVED TO BE, “insane” or “abnormal.” “Mental illnesses” (whether one believes they exist or not, since this is a matter of debate amongst those WITHIN the Mad Pride movement) are recognized disabilities, hence why words like “crazy” and “psycho” are ableist.

In fact, in addition to these words being ableist, we could say they’re also MENTALIST (and yes, that’s an actual word, and it doesn’t refer to magicians in this case). 

As a person with a disability, I do not use words like “lame” to describe things I think are silly. So I think it’s hypocritical of me, especially as someone with a “mental illness,” to be using words like “crazy” and “psycho.”

To those who would counter that words are just words, “get over it,” and that “words only have power if you give them meaning,” that’s exactly the problem. Words have meaning and history behind them, and many words have histories full of oppression and violence. Those things don’t just magically disappear. 

MENTALISM:

“Mentalism is a form of discrimination and oppression against people based on intelligence, mental type (ex. ADHD, bipolar or schizophrenia) mental action (ex. stuttering or Tourette syndrome) or neurology (ex. neurotypical or autism spectrum disorder) especially against those who have a mental disorder or a mental illness.

“Like other ‘isms’ such as sexism and racism, it is characterized by complex social inequalities in power. It can result in blatant mistreatment or multiple, small insults and indignities. The negative attitudes and terms may be internalized. Terms with a similar meaning that are sometimes used are ‘psychophobia’ and ‘sanism’…

“Mentalism, at an extreme, splits people into an empowered group assumed to be normal, healthy, reliable, and capable, and a powerless group assumed to be sick, disabled, crazy, unpredictable, and violent. This divide can justify inconsiderate treatment of the latter group and expectations of poorer standards of living for them, for which they may be expected to express gratitude. Further discrimination may involve labeling some as ‘high functioning’ and some as ‘low-functioning’. In either case, their behaviors are recast in pathological terms.

“The discrimination can be so fundamental and unquestioned that it can stop people truly empathizing (although they may think they are) or genuinely seeing the other point of view with respect. Mentalism may lead a person to erroneously believe they understand the other’s situation and needs better than they do themselves.”

[Source]

loveasaradicalact:

From a recent pep talk I gave to a friend:

“The odds are stacked against us; not just because of our personal trauma, but because we live in a society that devalues [interpersonal] relationships and pits people against each other and sets limits for love and causes anxiety by creating these boundaries and teaching us every fucking day that we aren’t good enough-
but there is absolutely no reason why we aren’t.”

I have all sorts of theories for the reasoning behind this, it’s really a huge psychosocial mess, but what I do know for sure is that the first step to changing this is pushing through it and overcoming. Finding the love that we need but are afraid to seek, making those connections we’ve been told we couldn’t make, that all starts with believing that we can, and rejecting the brainwashing material we’ve been fed through the years. Once we’ve done that, we can take those connections and organize to create something bigger, freeing others from first their mental and emotional cages, then from all of our political and economic ones. In this way, love is a radical act, including first and foremost love and trust in yourself.

(via )

(Source: lapinchebruja)