Bedlam
In April 2020, PBS Independent Lens began to screen a documentary called Bedlam that examines the United States’ mental health crisis.
Rooted in IDHA’s commitment to inspire critical dialogue about a range of perspectives, offer clarity in a time of mass confusion, and uplift the leadership of those most marginalized in our society, we engaged with the documentary on a number of fronts.
While we know that no movie can include every perspective, we believe that additional voices and context (particularly those of ex-patients, psychiatric survivors, and others who experience the world in ways that are often called mental illness) are needed to ensure that this documentary doesn’t further marginalize or harm those of us with lived experience of mental health challenges.
Open Letter to PBS
Moved to action by the stories represented in the film, we led the drafting and coordination of an open letter to PBS, who gave the documentary a platform. We decided to address PBS because as a trusted, publicly-funded institution, they have a responsibility to deliver quality content to the public that represents a range of perspectives and uplifts diverse voices. With this letter, we hope to inspire an ongoing spirit of dialogue, rooted in our mission to proliferate an understanding of mental health that acknowledges and addresses the numerous contexts in which our well being exists.
Bedlam: Community Discussion
On Monday, May 11th, IDHA hosted a virtual community discussion about Bedlam with the goal of reclaiming our history, fostering critical dialogue, and proposing a vision for the future informed by lived experience, grounded in rights and social justice. We were honored to be joined by Azza Altiraifi, Akee, Browder, Felix Guzman, and Leah Harris, in a virtual panel conversation facilitated by IDHA Training Director Sascha DuBrul. You can watch the recording of the event on Facebook here (with ASL interpretation), and on YouTube here. You can also access the complete closed caption transcript.
Reading and Resources
Bedlam and mental health policy agendas
Bedlam: Public Media, Power, and the Fight for Narrative Justice (Leah Harris, Mad in America)
Kamala Harris’s ‘Mental Health’ Plan: Why It Still Matters (by Leah Harris, Mad in America)
the biomedical model and medicalization of mental illness
Unraveling the Biopsychiatric knot (Sascha DuBrul)
Contextual determinants of mental illness
Trauma, Growth, and Resilience (IDHA Teachable training)
THE HISTORY OF Disability justice, the mad movement, and OTHER social justice organizing
Disability Justice - a working draft (Patty Berne, Sins Invalid)
10 principles of disability justice (Sins Invalid)
The History of the Mad Movement & Alternatives to Biomedical Approaches (IDHA Teachable training)
Intersections of the mental health and prison systems
Lynching and Lunacy: Mab Segrest on the Racist Roots of American Psychiatry
Narrating Asylum History Through an Anti-Racist Lens: An Interview with Author Mab Segrest (Leah Harris, Mad in America)
Alternative approaches and paradigms
The History of the Mad Movement & Alternatives to Biomedical Approaches (IDHA Teachable training)
MEDIA made by impacted people and allies
Beyond Possible: How the Hearing Voices Approach Transforms Lives (Western Mass RLC/Mount Holyoke/Open Excellence)
Mental health and COVID-19
Fear and Grief Are Not Mental Illness...(and Never Were) (Mad in America webinar)
Let’s Participate in Co-constructing Ecosystems and Cultures that Honor All Life (Berta Britz, ISPS blog post)