INSPIRATIONAL! "It was a real pleasure and privilege to be invited to write for Mad in America. Partly because, like anyone with a shred of sense and (in)sanity, I am a great admirer and believer in Robert Whitaker’s work: epitomizing, as it does, George Orwell’s observation that “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” But also because of the MiA community itself. As a relative newcomer to the site, I was immediately struck by the vibrancy, fellowship, and solidarity between individuals with differing views but a shared cause. Community is a valuable concept for me, because the essence of my own madness was betrayal and isolation. Similarly, for many of us, the main crucibles for madness (loss, discrimination, abuse, or other injustices) are enacted on a silent, shameful, and lonesome stage. Social bonds, in contrast, foster the sense of reconnection, reclamation, and emancipation that are so important for recovery (Herman, 1992). It was that sense of kinship and convergence – of shared perspective and shared beliefs – that fortified and sustained me when I was asked to present about my experience of voice hearing at the TED 2013 conference. In the run-up to the event, and constantly afterwards, people would ask, “How can you bear the pressure of doing a TED talk?!” A quick scan through the attendee list showed that, amongst 1,700+ other audience members, were Ben Affleck, Cameron Diaz, Bill Gates, Al Gore, Matt Groening, and Goldie Hawn. In my own session, amongst other brilliant individuals, was Vint Cerf, widely credited as a ‘founding father’ of the Internet. And there was me, a mad woman from Yorkshire! But it was the knowledge of all those others out there, “the rebels and renegades, truth-tellers, pioneers and freedom fighters” as Jacqui Dillon (2010) puts it, “all walking along the same path … seeking the same kind of justice” – that stayed with me and helped ensure I didn’t falter. At the end of my talk June Cohen, one of the conference’s wonderful co-hosts, came onto the stage and asked me, with a respectful interest, whether I still hear voices. For a split second I hesitated, wondering whether to play it down with an airy “oh, not all that much now.” Instead I opted for the truth: “All the time,” I said cheerfully, “In fact I heard them while I did the talk – they were reminding me what to say!” _Eleanor Longden. madinamerica/2013/08/ted-talk/
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 00:27:27 +0000
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