GBA 226 Cheryl

In GBA 226 we get better acquainted with Cheryl. She tells the story of when as a result of misunderstandings and other circumstantial issues she was taken from her home by the police and put into a mental institution against her will. This experience changed her understanding of the human rights afforded to people with mental health issues and her knowledge of what mental health services can be like. This traumatic experience inspired her to become an anti-psychiatry activist. We have a conversation around her story about our different perspectives on mental health but mostly the episode focuses on the details of her experience which are terrifying, vivid and often horribly darkly funny. For more perspectives and experiences of mental health listen to this collection of Getting Better Acquainted episodes: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/sets/mental-health-issues Cheryl plugs: Speak Out Against Psychiatry: http://speakoutagainstpsychiatry.org/ Asylum Magazine: http://www.asylumonline.net/ Petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104681 I plug: Spark London: Multicultural Minds: https://www.picturehouses.com/film/spark-london-storytelling-multi-cultural-minds Stand Up Tragedy: Tragic Autumn: http://www.facebook.com/events/1453089018350037/ Stand Up Tragedy presents.... http://www.facebook.com/events/461679520679231/ #ManSurvey: http://www.mansplainingmasculinity.co.uk/ We mention: Spark London: http://sparklondon.com/ Mind Freedom International: http://mindfreedom.org/ Network Against Psychiatric Assault: http://networkagainstpsychiatricassault.org/ Kidnapped by Psychiatry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU0Ue1xg9m4 ECT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroconvulsive_therapy Mind: http://www.mind.org.uk/ DSM 5: http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx Bupa: http://www.bupa.co.uk/ Rethink: http://www.rethink.org/ Nellie Bly - 10 days in a Mad-House: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bly/madhouse/madhouse.html Aunty Margaret: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/gba-125-margaret My story from the Spark London Mental Health Stories night is included in this GBA episode: https://soundcloud.com/gettingbetteracquainted/uncertain-new-year Follow @GBApodcast on Twitter. Like Getting Better Acquainted on facebook. Tell your friends. Spread the word!