John McCarthy: Irish Mental Health Advocacy
First Aired: 03-28-2006 -- 4 comments | Add comment
Ireland Activist and Poet John McCarthy, Mindfreedom International representative to the United Nations, discusses being “normally mad,” recovery, the UN Disability Convention, and challenging system abuses, in dialogue with Will Hall and co-host Oryx Cohen.
John also responds to callers, and reads a very moving poem about the death of a friend in the system. A very popular show.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:12 — 78.6MB)
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I suffered from a condition about 8 years ago where I had such terrible anxiety and a fierce sense of impending doom that I prescribed prozac which was really the start of my problems. I wanted to relax but not that much. I still wanted to feel part of my social circle but came to rely on the little peace pill. Then I tried nutrition about 4 years ago and thank god for it every day. I really wouldn’t have lasted. I read one of Patrick Holfords books on mental health and nutrition and now understand why I was oversinsitized to everything including foods/stress/panic etc. I felt so inspired I am now almost a qualified naturopathic nutritionist and am already helping lots of people to just let go of the terribe helplessness and help themselves. I am so healthy and feel great all the time. I appreciate where I came from and will never look back. L
thanks for the clarity
This man speaks with a powerful voice and is capable of moving many people. He is not afraid to integrate emotion with intellect and experience. It is something many psychiatrists could benefit from learning to do as well. It is being ‘aloof’ which allows people to objectify others and treat them as if they were less than human.
Thank you for this fantastic interview with John McCarthy, founder of Mad Pride Ireland. What a beautiful, wise, articulate, funny man, and his poem is truly moving. He is one of the clearest thinkers I’ve encountered on a wide range of topics to do with mental health oppression. What a loss to us that he is gone.#mentalhealthliberation #MadPrideIreland