17 year old Sonia Peterson speaks with great insight about being locked up and forced to take drugs at age 12 and living with a bipolar diagnosis. Plus a short documentaty produced by Darbey Penney and Peter Stastny on Nazi killings of psychiatric patients, and an interview with original Freedom Center leading organizer Vikki Gilbert.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:40 — 100.1MB)

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Psychiatric survivor Krista MacKinnon talks about her experiences with extreme states and spirituality, and her current work as a family advocate with Toronto, Canada’s Family Outreach and Response Program, an innovative way of helping families from beyond the limits of the medical approach.

http://www.familymentalhealthrecovery.org

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:29 — 47.2MB)

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Dr. Pat Bracken, Irish psychiatrist, philosopher and co-author of the book Post-Psychiatry: Mental Health in a Post-Modern World, discusses community development as an alternative to individualistic and harmful Western mental health care world wide, including a critique of the PTSD diagnosis and its treatment based on his work in Uganda.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:19 — 52.5MB)

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Mina, a main organizer with the Portand Icarus Project, discusses her experiences diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder schizophrenia – bipolar type, coming off meds, homelessness, mysticism, and helping people through psychotic crisis, as well as reading from her ‘zine.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:02 — 52.2MB)

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Ed Knight, schizophrenia and homelessness survivor, has become one of the leading advocates of a recovery-based approach in mental health, and is one of the main organizers of the consumer-survivor movement.

Ed is the Steward of The Healing Circle, a Zen Peacemaker Circle, and a Senior in the Buddhist Zen Peacemaker Sangha, as well as Vice President of Recovery, Rehabilitation and Mutual Support at Valueoptions, and a mentor in the Prison Dharma Network.

http://www.professored.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:36 — 96.4MB)

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Psychiatrist Peter Stastny talks about his decades-long work as an anti-psychiatrist psychiatrist, problems with the hospital system and medications, and the international movement to create alternatives.

Peter is one of the main organizers of INTAR, the International Network of Treatment Alternatives for Recovery.

http://www.intar.org

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:34 — 70.9MB)

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INTAR — the International Network Towards Alternatives and Recovery — had a 2005 gathering of people from around the world working on ways to help people with schizophrenia, bipolar and other diagnoses without the medical model. This hour-long show interviews 13 participants.

http://www.intar.org

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:30 — 54.5MB)

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Danielle, who works with a New York City policy NGO and is part of the activist Rockdove Collective, discusses the international Restorative Justice movement, creating effective mediation and community dialog as alternatives to the punitive prison-industrial complex criminal justice system. Danielle specifically focuses on using Restorative Justice for violent and serious crimes.

Check out www.rockdovecollective.org and www.restorativepractices.org

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:00 — 55.0MB)

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Leading legal scholar Michael Perlin discusses psychiatric rights around the world and the political uses of forced treatment, at the 2006 NARPA conference.

http://www.narpa.org

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:59 — 51.3MB)

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Portland Oregon police were exonerated after they beat and killed without provocation or cause Jim Chasse, a man labeled with schizophrenia.

http://www.mentalhealthportland.org

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:11 — 51.5MB)

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Zyprexa manufacturer Eli-Lilly covered up criminal conduct and drug risks, leaked documents show, and is using a court gag order to keep survivor activists, including Freedom Center organizer Will Hall, quiet.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:33 — 110.9MB)

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Culture jammer and anti-consumerist publisher of Adbusters magazine Kalle Lasn talks about the mental environment, brands, organizing for change and how toxic culture causes emotional distress.

http://www.adbusters.org

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:25 — 26.9MB)

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Sex workers Caty Simon and Maryse discuss social standards of normal and acceptable sexuality and how it affects mental wellbeing, from the point of view of sex workers rights.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:55 — 48.5MB)

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Inside Soteria House with Voyce Hendrix, original clinical director who worked closely with Loren Mosher. Soteria House was a non-medication, non-diagnostic label and voluntary residence treating severe psychotic breakdown. Recovery rates were much higher in this humane and egalitarian atmosphere — but the project was shut down because it challenged the pharmaceutical company pro-medication interests.

Voyce discusses how Soteria was different than mainstream facilities and describes the healing results it had.

More info on Soteria House at http://www.moshersoteria.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:06 — 90.0MB)

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Visionary writer, musician, and sculptor Eddie Bartok-Baratta performs his powerful poetry, plays flute, and discusses his amazing life, trauma and violence, and his creativity.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:22 — 50.8MB)

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