Anti State, Anti Capital, Anti Psychiatry
Anti-psychiatry is the belief that the psychiatric system is a system of social control masquerading behind made-up science. The Marxist anti-psychiatry movement failed because of it's overly intellectual focus and the inability of its key thinkers to put theory into practice. However, with mental health very much on the political agenda, there are lessons that can be learned from the work of R D Laing and David Cooper.
negative affirmations: on the critique of positive thinking.
Submitted by sometimes explode on Jul 12 2015 20:29
Using a recent article critical of positive thinking this short and ranty response looks at a general trends in left discourse to make this critique while concealing its own operation as a form of positive thinking. Originally written on the day the article, '"Positive Attitude" Bullshit' went live.
For your safety and security… - anonymous refused
An essay, published on a blog, anonymous refused, that elaborates many of the problems with "safer spaces" as they are currently practiced in activist collectives, and puts forward a nuanced perspective that does not totally reject the project of "safer spaces". Content warning for discussion of sexual assault and mental illness.
Class struggle and mental health: Live to fight another day
The long-awaited and beautifully illustrated pamphlet bringing together accounts from anarchists around the globe about what it means to suffer from mental illness and what we, as individuals and a movement, can do about it.
"Powerless": treatment programs within the prison industrial complex - Nick O.
A critique of the role of prison treatment programs by an anarchist and ex-prisoner.
Rhythms: third movement
Submitted by sometimes explode on Sep 8 2014 15:11
Second part of investigation into rhythmic understanding of madness and our corporeal bodily existence. Runs a little longer than the usual libcom article.
The occupation of the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, 1979 - Steven Johns
Submitted by Steven. on Aug 27 2014 14:25
A short account of a sit in at the Swedish health board by LGBT activists in 1979 which successfully pressured the government to remove the designation of homosexuality as a mental illness. It also sparked myths of a widespread "phoning in gay" protest.
Robin Williams, mental illness, and the stigma epidemic
Submitted by working class s... on Aug 12 2014 22:33
The tragic death of Comedian Robin Williams, in an apparent suicide, has placed the issues of mental illness, suicide, and associated ignorance and stigma, firmly in the public sphere.
Authoritarianism, work and therapy
Submitted by sometimes explode on Jul 14 2014 15:13
Reaction to the news that the UK Government have been discussing linking employment support payments to undergoing mental health assessments among the psychiatric population. This short article has a particular focus on the authoritarianism behind this move.
Capitalism and schizophrenia - Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari
The two volumes of Deleuze and Guattari's influential text: Anti-Oedipus (1972) and A Thousand Plateaus (1980).
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