Interview with Clare Christina on Examiner.Com
Submitted by Icarus Project on Wed, 05/19/2010 - 3:08pmExcerpt:
With the numbers of “diagnosable” mental illnesses being so high, it isn’t any wonder activists are questioning just how much sense these diagnoses make. Where is the line drawn between illnesses and gifts, between insanity and individuality?
The Icarus Project is a group of activists who live with “experiences that are commonly diagnosed and labeled as psychiatric conditions.” They envision and strive to create a culture that accepts their experiences rather than trying to drug them up to fit into “a conventional framework.” For them, their experiences are not “diseases” but rather “mad gifts needing cultivation and care.”
This grassroots network has plenty of online and print resources, as well as local support groups and campus groups across the U.S. and beyond. These groups “support alternatives to the medical model and acknowledge the traumatic legacy of psychiatric abuse.”
I spoke with Clare Christina, one of the organizers/facilitators of the NYC lcarus Project, which is a local autonomous group that is supported by the national Icarus collective. The group meets monthly for peer support and to collaborate on various artistic events and fundraisers.
Free to be me
Inner Sanctum
Doors leading to the outside
Were covered over
As if to prevent escape
Or perhaps a ‘going in.
Walls were painted in a pale dirty green
Suggesting
Institutional passivity.
There was no other, other than I
& as my eyes
Accustomed to the light
My within grew dim.
The ‘I, i knew
Became those walls without doors
Of no coming in.
"Am I incarcerated
For being unwell?
For my own good?
Am I harm to myself and to others?
I think NOT"
( although I think a lot )
That there are those who seek control
Over what is left of my Soul
And I so want to escape
To 'Ojo de Dios, (of New Mexico)
( known as ‘The Eye of God )
Whether I am welcome there / Or not.