Throughout the the world new mental health consumer/survivor support and recovery groups are springing up left and right. Portland Hearing Voices is just one of those new community groups that promotes mental diversity

through public education, discussion groups, and community support related to hearing voices, seeing visions, and having unusual beliefs and sensory experiences often labeled as psychosis, bipolar, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders. Their main goal is to "reduce fear and misunderstanding, question stereotypes, promote holistic health options, overcome isolation, and create a more inclusive and supportive community." Program Director, Will Hall, was interviewed by Newsweek magazine and in his interview he said, "Psychiatrists are prone to making arbitrary distinctions between 'crazy' and 'healthy'.  While diagnosed as having 'schizophrenia', he argues for acceptance of 'different minds'.

The Mad pride movement began in the 1960s and 1970s, when maverick psychiatrists started questioning the boundaries between sane and insane, and patients began resisting psychiatric care, especially the kind they considered coercive.  It was formalized in the early 1990s in the UK, mostly around London. Mad Pride activists seek to reclaim terms such as 'mad', 'nutter' and 'psycho' from misuse, such as in newspapers. Through a series of mass media campaigns, Mad Pride activists seek to re-educate the general public on such subjects as the causes mental diversities, the experiences of those using the mental health system and the alternative healing methods that exist outside the world of the big 'pharmacieutical businesses'.

On May 11, 2008, Gabrielle Glaser documented Mad Pride in The New York Times. Glaser stated, "Just as gay-rights activists reclaimed the word 'queer' as a badge of honor rather than a slur, these advocates proudly call themselves mad; they say their conditions do not preclude them from productive lives."  The Mad Pride movement was further mentioned in The Huffington Post.

Today Mad Pride are mostly groups that celebrate human rights and focus on diversity, which really includes everyone. MindFreedom has many new alerts and event information on its site. Other support groups include the Mad Tea Party in Chicago and the Freedom Center in Northampton, Mass., which provides education, acupuncture, yoga and peer discussions to about 100 participants. The ABC-TV show Primetime Outsiders ran a segment about Mad Pride on August 25, 2009 that included interviews with actor Joey Pantoliano; musician Madigan Shive; and David W. Oaks, Director, MindFreedom International.

This mental diversity approach helps us to explore creativity, spirituality, trauma, and sensitivity beyond all conventional medical labels.  By exploring these avenues, we are able to learn from each other, while we also learn from and live with our experiences, struggle with emotional distress and pain and respect the positive sides of what we go through.

Most of these new support groups, like The Icarus Project welcome diverse personal interpretations and ways of coping. The Wildflowers' Movement focuses on self-acceptance, which is the key to

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