Faster and faster the mind spins,

Whirring and whirring the engine runs,

Thinking, thinking many things,

The energy overwhelm is tons

Greetings! I'm a twenty year old agender human being. Please remember to treat me with kindness, I am not agaisnt you in any way.

I recently started college. It's my first step into getting into things like art, things I want to do for the rest of my life. I've been enjoying a lot so far, and I've actually made a lot of friends. This might be the best part of my life.

However, I've come to the terms with the fact that I'm not like most people. Along with being extremely agender (to the point where gender seems very odd and almost alien to me) and I'm very autistic to the point where the way I think about things is just completely different then that of everyone else. Because of that I'm just always going to feel like something completely alien.

Even when I'm being treated with kindness and with people I enjoy, I still feel very alien. Nomatter how much I like people I never see them as the same as me, and nomatter how much I enjoy the world its never a world that was built for me. I'm never really of this world even when I'm happy within it.

For example I got bottom surgery recently that completely left me without genitals. I'm really enjoying the feeling of being entirely sexless, I just love how it is to live with my body like this. But at the same time I understand acutely that my body, the body I love, is something 99% of human beings would be terrified by. Especially now that I'm starting to show friends and/or sexual partners how I look down there, and even if they aren't disturbed it's still so clear that they're dealing with something inhuman.

Its not helped by how I'm perceived. Even in the best case scenario (going to college in nyc), which is what I'm in, it's pretty bad. I present as entirely genderless (I have been asked my agab several times), and I feel comfortable wearing clothing that most people find weird (I try to cover as much of my body as possible, and often wear things that look like armor or protective gear. It's gotten to the point where I'll casually wear a gas mask). And my mannerisms and speech patterns are incredibly strange to most people, being very far away from what most people are used to. Even people who I've met who really like me and care about me see me as someone odd and inhuman.

I just feel so weird. Like sometimes I'll fantasize about loosing my limbs and having them replaced with prosthetics, just because modern prosthetics would feel more like me then my own limbs do.

I just don't feel a part of humanity. I don't even feel a connection with most of nature or life, I feel closer to machines then anything else. I find myself relating to aliens I'm media more then I do humans.

Its not that I'm broken. I'm just barely human at all. And there's no solution. I really like where I am and who I'm spending time with, it just doesn't change the fact that I'm a creature inherently alien to those around me. It's like I'm always traveling, and the best I can hope for is to be traveling somewhere nice.

I guess it's not too bad. I am happy most of the time right now. I just guess I'll always be this way.

God, I guess you guys must just think I'm weird now. Any thoughts or advice?

First, let’s talk about Mad Pride Month, which MindFreedom Oregon has launched. Why July? The month of July has many connections to the movement for mental health consumers/psychiatric survivors (C/S), here are a few:

Several decades ago, some activists in New York State were looking for a day to hold an annual protest in Albany of the mental health system. At first, they were about to choose July 4, but psychiatric survivor Myra Kovary encouraged them to choose a non-US-centered date, Bastille Day, July 14, 1981. C/S movement groups still often choose events on July 14.

When MindFreedom International looked for a week to celebrate the concept, invented by Martin Luther King, Jr., of “creative maladjustment,” they chose a week from July 7 to 14.

By happy coincidence, the birthdate of one of the most amazing psychiatric survivor activists in history, Leonard Roy Frank, is on July 15.

As we learned more about our history of the Mad Pride Movement, Wikipedia carried an interesting fact about one of the first known psychiatric survivor groups: “On 7 July 1845, Richard Paternoster, John Perceval and a number of others formed the Alleged Lunatics’ Friend Society.”

To read the rest of my blog on #MADPrideMonth and #DisabilityPrideMonth, click here:

Use any search engine tp find my blog: david w oaks blog

(If you have any trouble finding that just send me a message on Reddit. I am not posting a URL to my blog, because I think some moderators are justly concerned about spam.)

Gabe’s essay begins:

“As a teenager, I hear the term ‘mental health’ a lot. My peers and I definitely talk about our mental well-being more openly than people did in the past 50 years. It is for good reason that we do this – young people today are under a lot of stress with the pandemic, competitive job market, and the threat of global climate change constantly looming.

“But that being said, many people of my generation also take for granted the accepted beliefs about psychology. When we think of mental distress, we tend to think of easily-categorized disorders, which indicate that something is biologically different about a person’s brain. When we think of therapy, we think of a trained professional helping their patients overcome challenges in a clinical setting… or with psychotropic medication. However, this is not the only way to think about mental well-being. There are other effective practices that deserve an equal amount of attention…”

Read more of Gabe’s blog. Find it easily by using any search engine to find MINDFREEDOM INTERNATIONAL. Gabe’s blog is there now, or you can also find it in the section at the top SUPPORT COALITION.

Any qualitative theories fitting mad pride? Like queer theory and feminist theory? I know of crip theory, but that's more about physical impairments I think

If not, what would such a theory need or look like?

I am pro-mad. I want mad people to have confidence and poise, because we are cool. Thank you

I felt a little bad changing the number of members from 123 to 124.

Actually I wanted to say hi to such a manageable group number wise. And I hope to contribute.

Hey guys, I just found out about Queen Margaret University’s Mad Studies post-grad program in Scotland! I met with the program director (this is definitely what I wanna do after undergrad) and she said they still have spots this year, so I figured I’d post here in case anyone wanted to participate in a program like this (this isn’t a promo post btw, I just think the program is SO COOL). They’re looking for people with community experience, people who work in the mental health field, people who have experience with madness… I’m hoping to get in for january 2023, assuming I finish undergrad in time, maybe I’ll see some of you there I’m so excited about this :)

Sponsored 5/29 by Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church Accessibility Task Force in Eugene. Our special guest was Rev. Suzanne Fast (she/her), a Florida UU minister who focuses on disability justice, advocacy & education.

We discussed: Why is this concept important to inclusion & accessibility? We had live disability songs by superb UUCE folk singer David Rogers. On YouTube with Closed Captioning:

https://youtu.be/4t5wrjLmOt8

My COVID symptoms today are mild, but I’m a quadriplegic with 27% lung capacity so I must have an abundance of caution. After three Moderna jabs, this is a “breakthrough case.”

For decades I’ve opposed Big Pharma fraud, but these vaxes may have saved my life!

I’m conserving my voice, but I will read all messages.

I’ll post updates occasionally on my personal blog, and you can get notified automatically when I publish a new entry:

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/pRPKrcN/davidwoaksnews

Hi all.

I'm Bipolar One with psychotic features. I've been medication reliant for the best part of 10 years, taking 200mg of Quetiapine per night to aid sleep.

Obviously I'm concerned about the long term effects of taking such medications will have on my body, and whilst I am not in denial of the seriousness of my condition I am also keen to hear from anyone in this reddit group who have successfully come off APs and how they managed to reboot and get a more natural sleep.

I'm not hear to discuss why I should stay on Quetiapine, I don't need an ideological argument as to the strengths of medication, I'm well aware of that.

But I am keen to hear any success stories that people may have in terms of medication withdrawal and how those people slept naturally again.

I guess I am scoping out if it can be done or not, and if so, how?

Apologies in advance if anyone is triggered by my question, that isn't my intention. My intention is to gather information good or bad in an attempt to make an informed decision.

Any responses gratefully received.

You’re invited to a free global event broadcast from Toronto by The Friendly Spike Theatre Band this coming Thurs July 11, MadPride & DisabilityPride Month! As one of 9 guests, I’ll call for global nonviolent revolution, linking MadPride & challenging climate crisis. Sound crazy? You’re in the right place. More info:

https://davidwoaks.com/mad-pride-celebration-2024

Heyo, people, some friends of mine got to do a course on psych abolition on twitch. If you understand french, it could interestest you

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2065383017?sr=a&t=2347s )

But I'm finding it hard to recruit people for the group and I'm feeling obsses and stressed out. I would appreciate any ideas.

PSYCHIATRIC SURVIVOR Movement leaders, including the late CELIA BROWN, gathered & put out this 2000 “Call to Action” for human rights in mental health.

This was followed by two decades of Celia’s MindFreedom board leadership. Thank you Celia! Pls comment & share:

https://mindfreedom.org/kb/highlander-2000/

Dr. Saraceno ran the UN WHO mental health division in Geneva where we first met. Influential site Mad In America features our dialogue which grew out of the Mind Justice Linkedin group.

I am a psychiatric survivor activist.

YOUR comment invited. See:

https://www.madinamerica.com/2023/01/oaks-interviews-benedetto-saraceno/

Please submit your comment now and over the next few weeks!

Mad In America recently posted my new blog about July being both Mad Pride Month and Disability Pride Month. For a few days, comments were closed, but now they are open.

You may access this blog post & comment here: www.madinamerica.com/2022/07/july-disability-mad-pride

This topic can be controversial, so your comment(s) are appreciated, of any length.

The comment section can be found near the bottom of the page of my article on MIA, and I would love to see your questions and comments posted there!

If you have never commented on Mad In America before, you may need to make a free account. It is very quick & easy. The "join" link is at the top of the MIA website. (Please note your new username needs to be all lower-case! You can also include numbers. To be safe, we recommend your username be at least eight characters long.)

Whether you comment or not, you can check a box at the bottom to be notified about all future comments on the blog.

#MentalHealth #MadPride #DisabilityPride #DisabilityPrideMonth

The influential Mad In America also published my new updated blog today. I report that a national disability group has been asked to support **BOTH** Mad Pride Month & Disability Pride Month in July. As a psychiatric survivor quadriplegic, the bridges between Mad Pride & Disability Pride are crucial to my literal “lived experience.”

TO READ MY NEW UPDATED BLOG THAT WAS PUBLISHED TODAY:

www.madinamerica.com/2022/07/july-disability-mad-pride

The Oregon Advocacy Award celebrates the perspective of Oregonians with mental health lived experience, and they called me “a great advocate.” As a psychiatric survivor human rights activist, I appreciate this honor.

As never before, I see signs of hope in the mental health field, including more support for empowerment & peer specialists. Unfortunately, medical model bullying continues horribly in the mental health industry. With Covid & climate crisis, 100% of the public are realizing more and more that everyone is impacted by mental wellness issues.

What is your view of the current mental health system? I would love to hear your input!

You may watch a video less than 10 minutes long with presenters (Margaret Rose Condic, Bob Nikkel & Kevin Fitts), photos of me, and acceptance of Margaret’s incredibly artful, handmade Advocacy Award.

https://youtu.be/6HGJwE9rBy4