VT. Me as an ‘inspirational mom’ diagnosed with schizophrenia
World Mental Health Awareness Week can, for many of us, provoke a range of responses (from bored, irritated to offended as people promote the idea of it being ‘good to talk’ without mentioning the massive investment and culture changed needed in our health and social care systems to ensure this isn’t simply a platitude to […]
BBC Radio 4: My Name Is … Rachel
After working with Akiko Hart to create an ‘Alternative Review of the Mental Health Act’ for National Hearing Voices Network, I was keen to keep up the momentum and get people talking about the coersive end of the mental health system. Luckily, after speaking with a contact in the BBC Current Affairs dept. an opportunity […]
Healthista: Living with ‘Schizophrenia’
This World Mental Health Day the folks at Healthista asked me if I’d be interviewed talking about what it’s like to live with ‘schizophrenia’. This was a strange request as one of the things I’m most vocal about is that the language of mental illness is part of what stripped me of my autonomy and […]
They Heard Voices: Screening and discussion
An independent documentary by Jonathan Balazs looking at the Hearing Voices movement & the schizophrenia label On Thursday 27th April from 6.30pm at Kennedy Lecture Theatre (UCL Institute of Child Health), I’ll be joining a panel to discuss a screening of ‘They Heard Voices’ … a documentary I contributed to. This screening is hosted by Mind in Camden, […]
Newsweek: Hearing Voices Movement Special Report
In the Autumn, last year, I met with a lovely young journalist called William Lee Adams in a quaint tea shop in Canterbury. Sat on the sofa, surrounded by shoppers and sightseers enjoying their lunch, we chatted for an hour or two about my experiences of hearing voices and the importance of the Hearing Voices […]
Council for Evidence Based Psychiatry Interview
Rachel’s recovery from psychiatric labelling and unnecessary treatment from CEP on Vimeo. A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Luke from the Council for Evidence Based Psychiatry (CEP). CEP exists to communicate the evidence of the damaging effects of psychiatric drugs and treatments in the UK to the people and institutions that can make […]
Symptom or Experience: Does Language Matter?
Whenever we talk about ourselves we tell stories. Without these stories, our experiences would sit – unconnected – like a thousand tiny beads. Telling our story helps us to weave connections between these beads, linking them together with different threads to create a tapestry full of meaning. This is a fluid and continually evolving process. […]
The Schizophrenia Commission: A personal perspective
As someone who has lived experience of being diagnosed with schizophrenia (amongst other things) the release of the ‘Schizophrenia’ Commission Report has left me with very mixed feelings. First and foremost, I applaud the hard work of the members of the commission and all those who gave evidence and contributed to it. During the evidence-gathering […]
Making Sense of ‘Me’ By Finding HVN’s ‘We’
This article is loosely based on a talk I gave at the Hearing Voices Network’s 25 year anniversary conference last week. I was asked to talk about my relationship with HVN and what the network means to me. As the Hearing Voices Network has been a crucial part of my journey, this was something I […]
ISPS votes to ditch the ‘Schizophrenia’ label
We have joined other organisations around the world in deciding to stop using an unscientific and highly stigmatising label which, because of its connotations of an irreversible illness (‘brain disease’), has damaged millions of people for a century John Read, ISPS, March 2012 This month I feel overwhelmingly proud to be a member of ISPS […]
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