Icarus Project
Media and Public Speaking Talking Points
for Icarus Coordinators, Organizers, Volunteers and Representatives
this can be designed nicely for a handout as well, and available on the website as part of educational and press materials
05-12 Draft
*Main Media Memes*
Icarus is a sanctuary from the medical model of illnesses and disorders;
We are pro-informed choice on meds and many people take meds and don't take meds at icarus we have a harm reduction model towards meds/drugs;
We see society as crazy and call for radical social and political change rather than seeing the problems as inside of us - many of us are political activists. We are part of the radical mental health movement;
We don't have one alternate explanation for what 'madness' or how to heal but we create a space for diverse views, dialog and exploration, including trauma, holistic health, spiritual emergence, and political change;
Friends make the best medicine, mutual support is the key to our wellness;
We are part of the mad pride movement. We challenge stereotypes, work to change the mental health system, and to overcome stigma;
Who we are also has beautiful, creative, spiritual, and sensitive sides and support people exploring that;
We welcome holistic and alternative health perspectives and treatments but everyone is different;
Mainstream treatments harm many people (not all) and we are against psychiatric abuse;
Doctors and medical authorities don't have the answers and we have to find answers for ourselves.
*The longer versions* ----
*What the Icarus Project is*
The Icarus Project a support community for people with experiences commonly labeled psychiatric disorders such as bipolar, borderline, and schizophrenia who define themselves beyond the conventional medical language of disorders and mental illness.
We are an open-ended creative collaboration: a community website, media publications, a network of local groups and individuals, and more. Icarus was founded 6 years ago and has touched the lives of tens of thousands of people around the US and across the globe. We are part of the broader Mad Pride, survivor, and radical mental health movements, with common roots in a long history of organizing and struggles.
Doctors and society tell us we have disorders or illnesses, but we have a diversity of different ways of seeing ourselves, including having mad gifts. We come together to support each other, explore what we go through, and learn how to take care of ourselves and each other better.
We believe that our society is crazy, and we work to transform it through creativity and activism, not not just fit in and get along.
You can read our Mission and Vision statement here:
https://site.icarusprojectarchive.org/about-us/icarus-project-mission-statement
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*Who is involved with Icarus*
Icarus is diverse and multifacted. Since our founding more than 4,000 people have registered on our website and we have created a broad network of community support around the US. Articles, media coverage, and ppublications have reached tens of thousands more around the US. We also have people involved from South America, Canada, and Europe, and even India and Australia.
Most of us are in our twenties but the ages range from teens to people in their fifties. Many but not all of us come from alternative and counterculture communities and values, including punk rock and indie music, traveling and train-hopping, sustainable agriculture, alternative health, anti-authoritarian political activism, queer and LGBT, and mysticism and spirituality. We collaborate with and welcome professionals and allies.
*What people in Icarus do*
The Icarus website discussion forums are a rich mix of far-ranging conversations and community building. At any one time people might be posting poetry and art, supporting each other around feelings of suicide, helping understand medication side effects, planning an event, debating a recent film, discussing Buddhism, or cracking jokes. Fundamentally Icarus is about people meeting and connecting to overcome our isolation and separation. We also plan, write, and distribute publications, support local face-to-face meetings and groups around the country, speak to the media, give workshops and talks at events, and develop media projects like film and photography.
*How big Icarus is*
The Icarus website receives about ___ unique visitors every month. There are about ___ active members posting on the website at any one time. There are ___ local groups that meet regularly and ___ that are in formation or more losely structured. Icarus events at gatherings and conferences typically pack the venue they are in, such as 200 people at the NCOR ___ and ____
*Why the name Icarus?*
Icarus is the greek myth of the boy who was trapped in a labyrinth on an island with his father. His father fashioned wings out of wax and feathers, and the two flew to freedom. The father warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun or too close to the water, but Icarus was so excited with flight that he ignored his father's warning. He flew too close to the sun, the wings melted and burned, and he plunged into the ocean.
We take this myth to recognize our experiences as mad gifts that offer great possibility, but that need care and caution to be taken care of. We look to both embrace our gifts and learn how to use them properly.
*How Icarus was founded*
Icarus was founded by musician Sascha Dubrul and artist Ashley McNamara after Sascha wrote an enormously popular article in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. The overwhelming response to the article led him to meet Ashley, and the two launched a website and project to gather together the community that was forming. The site quickly expanded
*Icarus' beliefs about mental health*
The Icarus project brings together a wide variety of beliefs and experiences seeking a sanctuary from mainstream views: we embrace diversity. We do not have a single answer, explanation, or analysis: our website forums are thriving with discussions about how to define and understand our experiences beyond the limits of disorder, disease, illness or imbalance We share a focus on the pressures and difficulties of living in a crazy society, but are also interested in personal responsibility and individual growth. For example, many people explore trauma and emotional abuse; some look at spirituality, 'shamanism,' and psychic abilities; some learn about nutrition, environmental toxins and holistic health; and some look at creative gifts and talents. We support people defining their experience for themselves. As we work to create a new language, we respect the decision each of us makes to name ourselves using a psychiatric term such as "bipolar" or to find some other language.
*Icarus views about medication, hospitals, and therapy*
We believe that the path to recovery and wellness is unique and individual. Many Icarus project members take medications; many do not, and many rely on hospitals and therapists while others don't. We create a safe space for a diversity of individual views and approaches. We provide mutual support for people taking medication and also people exploring coming off medication, without judgment. We acknowledge the existence of psychiatric abuse and trauma, as well as the way that many people feel helped by hospitals and doctors. As a radical activist organization we recognize the misinformation and corruption in pharmaceutical marketing and psychiatric science, and work to educate accurately so more informed choices can be made, while at the same time also respecting that, with few or no other options available, many of us get help from mainstream sources.
*Our 'harm reduction approach'*
Keeping with our respect for individual diversity, Icarus embraces the 'harm reduction' model to peer education and wellness. This view encourages meeting people 'where they are at' and exploring each person's personal choices about balancing risks and how to make meaningful change as they define it. We are not "pro" or "con" when it comes to either psychiatric drugs, recreational/street drugs, or the experiences of madness and 'psychosis' themselves. Any of these can have positive or negative aspects and each of these involves their own risks. Harm reduction philosophy moves away from the "either/or" trap of abstinence and judgment models, and instead sees each of us as having the capacity to learn and grow in our own way in our own time.
*About Mad Pride*
Mad Pride is an international movement of people who want to speak openly and for ourselves about our experiences with madness as we define it. Many people in Icarus embrace Mad Pride but not all. We see Mad Pride as a way for people usually shunned, stigmatized, and stereotyped to come out of the shadows and claim our equal place and rights in society.
*What are some key Icarus goals?*
We want options beyond diagnosis and medication, and the right to choose for ourselves. We want safe spaces to talk about our experiences without fear of being forced into treatment. We want an end to pharmaceutical company dominance of mental health discussions, information, and treatment. We want access to resources including holistic health, education, and housing. We want space and support to develop mutual aid networks of community care and self-support.
*Why 'radical'?
Radical means going to the roots. And it means pushing for big changes in society. Rather than the medical view which takes it all out of context and puts it on individual brains.
Icarus emerged out of the punk, DIY, activist, and anti-authoritarian youth subcultures. We share a common view of society as crazy and we share a commitment to protest movements and social change. Radical mental health means questioning the profit motive that manipulates science and research, looking at how oppression and trauma are often behind emotional crisis, and making the connections between healing our minds and creating a healthier and more free community. The medical view of disorders and diagnoses takes attention away from social oppression and diverts energy from collective solutions. We want to break with the legacy of mental health care as conforming to the status quo and psychiatry as a tool of social control.
Does calling ourselves "radical" alienate people? We want to alienate people from their usual way of seeing things, and we believe "Radical Mental Health" encourages people to think.
*How Icarus is funded*
Icarus is primarilly run by volunteer power, with a stipended co-coordinator collective. We receive donations as a tax-exempt charity under a non-profit fiscal umbrella, FJC.