Jessica Max Stein put in an appearance for the Icarus Project October 5-7
at the Northeast Grassroots Community Herbal Convergence in Attleboro, MA...

The sturdy oaks sentineling the road were just starting to turn, their
yellow leaves rustling underfoot. There were about 100 people at the
convergence over the course of the weekend, most of them herbalists and
healers from the wider northeast.

I'd practiced herbalism privately at home, studying up and using myself as
a guinea pig, but this was my first public foray, my first admission that
I was part of this community. It was scary but ultimately a real pleasure
to meet folks and learn about their various approaches and experiences.
The people were warm and comfortable and so was the weather --
unseasonably 80s and sunny all weekend. What a treat. I'm still riding off
the good energy.

There were a lot of strong panels and workshops -- not to mention infinite
wonderful smaller conversations -- but I'm just going to hit on the two
most relevant to the reportback. Saturday morning I attended a workshop by
Guido Masi, a Vermont herbalist, on using herbs to transition off psych
meds. He sketched out a holistic approach, looking at all the different
systems of a person, not just isolating the mind. It was pretty amazing. I
made sure to give out lots of copies of the new drug guide!

I held my workshop -- "Grassroots Connections: Radical Mental Health and
Herbalism" -- on Saturday afternoon. This was the blurb in the program:
How can the herbalism movement connect with the movement for radical
mental health? In some ways, it already has! Come learn about the radical
mental health movement and discuss the links between these two grassroots
approaches towards health and wellness.

I'm sketching out my workshop here for others to use, in hopes that it's
helpful. About 20 people attended, clustered on the sunny patio for about
an hour and a half.

THE SHPIEL

What is the Icarus Project?
--Different things to different people; a website; a network of local
groups; a community; an attitude
--"Pro-choice" -- respecting people's decisions about mental health

NYC chapter: What have we done?
--art show, zine, conference, support meetings, informal support

What is radical mental health?
--Respects where the person is at. Dangerous (or not even dangerous;
useful, integral) gifts!
--Local, small-scale, anarchistic (mutual aid, autonomy, horizontal),
empowered.
--Anti-authoritarian. Yet (to quote John Holt), let's not confuse
Institutional Authority (doctors, teachers, etc.) with Natural Authority
(people we genuinely respect & look up to). Don't throw out baby
w/bathwater. It's okay to have experience & knowledge, & respect others
who do. (Harmony said here, "And of course everybody does.")
--Holistic -- not looking only at the mind.
--Societal -- not looking only at the individual. Society makes people crazy.
--Anti-oppression. Being oppressed makes people crazy. Fighting systems of
oppression is fighting for a saner society with saner individuals. The
individual as inextricable from hir society, etc. A woman is raped &
develops PTSD; does she have a disorder, or does society have a sexism
disorder? Would she feel safer & saner in a different society? Of course.
--Less invasive. Ex: Chamomile, not valium. Plants over psych drugs as
more societally sustainable, affirms knowledge, empowerment, etc. Also
better for earth, small-scale & local economy.

--The basics: our basics poster. So fundamental to mental health, so often
overlooked. Food, sleep & rest, exercise, supplements, supports,
spirituality, useful work, purpose.
--Wellness maps, helpful both for you & your supports

THE DISCUSSION

How can I make this workshop more specifically useful to you? Who *are*
you? Why are you here?

--Harmony, from NYC TIP, had a ton of helpful stuff to say, here and
throughout
--Wendy, working on mental health in New Orleans, wants to bring this
model there. I put her in touch w/Will who did this work there.
--Mary, who runs an herb shop, wants to know more about herbs & mental
health, esp. ADD/ADHD. I pointed her to Chris Mercogliano's work &
suggested relaxants (like chamomile) over sedatives (like valerian). That
energy is *energy* -- it needs respect, it needs an outlet. "Plus,
five-year-olds aren't supposed to sit still for seven hours a day!" I
said. "Under fluorescent lights!" Adrian from Albany chimed in.
--A few more people talked about where they were at, including a woman who
said she appreciated this model because it brought in the whole person,
especially the spiritual aspects.

Then Eli the rad musician asked me specifically about herbs and mental
health. This was probably my favorite part of the workshop, because it was
completely unplanned. "Oh, I just study privately," I said. "I don't
really know much about that." And then an entire 20 minutes' worth of
helpful knowledge somehow fell out of my mouth.

What I said: First look holistically, as Guido Masi said this morning.
Look at the different physical systems: digestive, nervous, cardio, etc.
Are they working all right? Everything you already know about herbs you
can bring in here to help with the different systems. Then check in with
the basics. Some of this will overlap. Is the person eating, sleeping,
overstressed? Help with that.

Depression: St. John's/Joan's Wort often helpful. Don't mix it with psych
drugs, that's dangerous.

Anxiety: Anxiety is *energy*. Don't stomp it down with sedatives. Try
gentler relaxants (ex: chamomile, lemon balm). That's your body talking to
you; what is it saying? Sometimes it just needs to be heard.

Someone then asked about PTSD. How would one treat that, herbally? I said
that the radical mental health perspective doesn't buy into the labels,
but instead investigates what "symptoms" (for lack of better word)
distress the person in question, and then considers how we can address
those *which the person hirself chooses to treat*.

Common PTSD symptoms & possible herbal treatments:
--dissociation: flower essences (to focus in the moment), the grounding herbs
--nightmares: again NOT sedatives, only relaxants. sometimes even lemon
balm makes things worse.
--also safety, validation, respect

There were a couple more comments and then I thanked everyone and they
thanked me. A few people stayed late, as after Icarus meetings, having
smaller private talks about all this. I feel like people got something out
of it.

I know I got something out of the weekend. It was, without exaggeration,
life-changing. I met a lot of amazing people, ate good food and
appreciated the plants and the trees. I learned quite a bit about
herbalism, people's projects around the country, possibilities for
sustainable living... and of course about little old me.