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One man’s courage to come back

September 30th, 2010 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on One man’s courage to come back)

Don Fraser credits family, doctors, and medications for helping him with schizophrenia

Donald Fraser was once enrolled in Surrey’s program for gifted students, active in sports, musically inclined, and popular. Years later, while at University of British Columbia, Donald experienced symptoms of schizophrenia for the first time. That began what has been described as a two-decade-long odyssey—“a roller coaster of diagnoses, institutions, a wide variety of medications and treatments, successes and failures.” Donald was diagnosed with schizophrenia and occipital epilepsy. (more…)

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On the psychiatric experience

September 30th, 2010 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on On the psychiatric experience)

A roundtable discussion with three people who have experienced the system, first-hand

Anti-psychiatry and mad pride movements have been questioning and assessing the role of psychiatry in health care and society—from the “patient’s” perspective—for decades now, but recent concerns about what appears to be a resurgence in the use of electroconvulsive therapy and questions about the growing use of psychiatric medications has added impetus to the debate. (more…)

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Survivor advocates for ‘mad studies’

September 9th, 2010 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Survivor advocates for ‘mad studies’)

Phebe Wolframe’s research into connections among madness, gender, and academia

PhebeAnn Wolframe is a proud psychiatric survivor and an advocate for mad studies who is currently completing a PhD degree in English and Cultural Studies. Phebe also presented at the PsychOUT Conference in Toronto last May. Her presentation was titled The Madwoman in the Academy: Making Space for The Mad Movement in Feminist Scholarship and Interdisciplinary Studies.

Phebe points out that the second-wave feminist movement and the mad movements, though sharing many points of intersection, have not managed to work effectively in tandem. (more…)

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Bipolar Babe’s cause goes on

September 9th, 2010 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Bipolar Babe’s cause goes on)

Second annual fundraiser for BD and her stigma-stomping work will sell out fast

The newly-formed Bipolar Disorder Society of B.C., a Victoria-based nonprofit dedicated to reducing the stigma of mental illness, will host its second annual fundraising variety show on September 18th, 2010 at the Victoria Event Centre. The show is designed to raise money to promote mental health education throughout B.C.

Andrea Paquette, AKA “Bipolar Babe”, the project’s founder and Society president, says the project has “stimulated open, frank and stigma-free conversations about mental illness, promoting greater acceptance, empathy and understanding of mental health.” (more…)

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Helping men and men’s organizations

September 2nd, 2010 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Helping men and men’s organizations)

A look at the need for men’s groups and some upcoming programs for men on Vancouver Island

Cowichan Men’s Centre works to “provide resources and support groups for men to better improve their relationship with themselves, their families, and with their community.” The organization, started in 2004 and located in Duncan, operates in a funding-scarce environment, with governments either unwilling or unable to provide sufficient grants.

Internationally, there has been increased interest in providing specific supports for the needs of men. This year, for example, the Australian government issued a new National Male Health Policy [opens to PDF], a policy first for the country, which was aimed at males of all ages. (more…)

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Yoga for youth at risk

June 24th, 2010 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Yoga for youth at risk)

Yoga approach provides alternative tools for physical, emotional and mental wellness to at-risk youth

A ‘Yoga Connect Project,’ offered at Nanaimo District Secondary School, has offered teens in an alternate program the opportunity to use yoga for its many physical and mental health benefits.

Instructor Regis (Durgadas) Chapman, of Silent Motion Yoga, told The Nanaimo News Bulletin that students minds crave silence from emotionality and electronic overload, but that sometimes it can be difficult to obtain that experience.

The project was inspired by a program in New York called The Lineage Project, which provides yoga and meditation for physical, emotional and mental wellness to at-risk and incarcerated youth ages 10 to 21. (more…)

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