Respect and thanks to you Sera for having the courage to write about such painful experiences so beautifully and candidly. I am so glad that you and your daughter are in a safe enough place now that you felt able to write this. It is a real gift to other women who have endured similar losses.
It is awful that you had to endure this on your own because you feared others reactions; only when we have the bravery to speak out about such common yet still taboo experiences, can we try to create a world in which others others will not have to suffer such agonies in silence.
My point about the bus pass was less about whether subsidised travel is of value to those who are living on benefits and more about the pessimistic messages I received as a psychiatric inpatient. Indeed, the current cuts to benefits and the merciless attacks on the vulnerable by our government are deeply concerning. For many, recovery is a luxury they can ill afford; survival is the name of the game.
Thanks for sharing those thoughts David, very interesting. I hope that one day we will be able to have the freedom to choose from a broad range of theories, ideas and explanations for the human condition and not have to be subjected to the dominance of this unscientific, unhelpful biomedical model.
So many people have said that their recovery began when they escaped mental health services which seems so absurd to me. As you know all too well Chrys, unhelpful and damaging experiences in services, are all too common. I have huge admiration for your work and your determination to change the system. Yet another woman on a mission!
I agree, who needs a psychologist who is scared of you! Sounds like they have a problem to me! Sad that you have to go through this though when all you are trying to do is get some help and talk to someone. I do hope that you are able to find the a Hearing Voices Group near to you – we accept all people, regardless of diagnosis. We are all just people.
Delighted to hear that you are reading ‘Trauma & Recovery’ Oli! I agree, if we had a mental health system based on Judith Herman’s work than the unscientific and pessimistic biomedical model, then the world would be a better place for us all.
And why should you be stigmatized for being different Licinia? I want to live in a world where we can be curious about our differences and celebrate our diversity.
I agree John, Kafkaesque is a good description of my own and many other people’s experiences in the mental health system. I was fortunate to escape…not everyone is so lucky. I too am pleased that the Hearing Voices Network are taking a stan in this important debate!
Thank you for those supportive comments Duane – I too look forward to a time when these abuses of people’s human rights are a thing of the past. In the meantime, let’s keep fighting the good fight!
I am finding it fascinating to see how this discussion has unfolded. Lots of powerful, intense and uncomfortable feelings have been aroused which has led to a powerful debate…
I originally posted my blog because I was so disturbed by what I read. Since then, a lot more details have emerged about Jani and her family. What has also become clear, are these powerful and alternative, sometimes contrary, perspectives between psychiatric survivors and family members. As I have already said, I think these issues warrant their own post…
There are many disturbing and worrying aspects about what is/has happened to Jani and her so-called treatment. As I have said previously, all we can do is speculate about her family and their difficulties. What is indisputable is that no child, whatever their experiences, should be on these levels of medication. Full stop.
Thank you for that Jennifer. Please feel free to share those 10 tips on your web site as well as a link to the Voice Collective web site which has lots of excellent resources including a fabulous short film made my some young voice hearers.
I have been amazed by the discussion that has been provoked by my original post. I think these issues deserve their own post so I will revisit them at a later date. I like the idea of ‘building a bridge’…
Thanks Kelly – glad you enjoyed my post! It has provoked a strong reaction and many passionate responses…I would say that we have moved beyond anti-psychiatry to post-psychiatry – Phil Thomas has written an interesting post on this previously on MiA, as well as many others writings. One of the huge strengths of Intervoice and the Hearing Voices Movement is that we have critiqued psychiatry but that is not our main objective. As I said in my last post, we have moved beyond critiquing the status quo and created our own fantastic solutions instead. I think that change needs to be happening at all levels…
Well some of us do care and our numbers are growing! I and many others share your outrage about the ways in which drug company propaganda has become truth – i.e. this notion that there are real chemical imbalances in our brains which can be corrected by taking pills – a great marketing tool that many people accept as science. Fortunately, many of us are now wise to these ploys and are making sure that as many other people as possible, know it too!
I am not sure that people are trying to ‘spin’ anything, just reflecting on what comes up for them when reading and hearing about Jani and her treatment and providing factual information that has previously been in the public domain.
I appreciate your wish to not blame but seek to try and understand. However I don’t believe in schizophrenia. I think it is a damaging concept and that so called symptoms are reactions, often to traumatic or overwhelming experiences. I also feel deeply troubled by what is really going on here although ultimately, all we can all do, is speculate, muse, discuss…
This is an all too common experience, in many parts of the world it seems Carina. It just makes me more determined to continue to raise awareness of the harm caused by those who are supposed to help, and of the many excellent alternatives that are developing across the world. This web site is a fantastic way of spreading awareness of both of these crucial issues. Pleased to ‘meet’ you here – very much look forward to meeting you in Gothenburg in the Spring!
I am disappointed that the Guardian – ‘my newspaper’ – would publish something like this. As you say, no critique whatsoever. As I’ve just said in response to Olga, I think working with and educating the media is crucial. I am fed up with reading stories about ‘mental illness’ in such biological, reductionist terms, in nearly every media representation of madness and distress I see, read or hear.
It is funny but when I was writing the post I imagined what it might mean if Jani were to read it in the future…
Thanks for sharing that Olga. The more I hear about Jani and her family, and the collusion of the professionals that are working with them, the more unsettled I feel.
Another thing that disturbs me is the way in which the media present such stories so uncritically. Reading some of the comments on other sites about the original article, it is clear that apparently intelligent people accept this story at face value and just think – oh, how sad. These stories are so harmful because they propagate false ideas about the causes of extreme distress AND shape how many people think about the such experiences, increasing ignorance, stigma and patronising attitudes. Developing good links with the media to try and better inform journalists is essential. On the to do list!
Parents coaching children in order to obtain disability income isn’t something I know much about but I can imagine it happens. As to whether so-called illnesses are behavioral is open to debate. It seems to me that troubling behaviours are the manifestation and consequence of overwhelming emotions, reactions to the environment, impact of significant relationships etc. Simply switching the frame from illness to behaviour isn’t the answer for me. A focus on it may be part of what helps makes sense of the whole person and their experience…
I agree Carina that there are ALWAYS answers, even if they lead to some very painful, uncomfortable issues. No experience, nor person is utterly incomprehesible, if we are simply willing to be with people, relate to them and really hear what they have to say. Sadly many ‘treatments’ actually make matters so much worse which is a travesty. Fortunately, there are a growing number of us who are expressing our outrage at such misguided attempts to help and who also have the knowledge and experience to advocate ways of working collaboratively that really do help.
Looking forward to collaborating with you and others in Sweden in April, to help spread the word about what works!
I am sorry to hear about the awful time you and your son have been having. I have met and worked with many families who have been beside themselves with worry about their kids. As a parent I can entirely empathise. That is why I posted the 10-point guide for parents, indicating what they can do if a child tells them that he or she hears voices: from our experiences, the less alarmed parents feel, the better the outcomes for their children.
I hope that your son is able to get the support from his therapist to make sense of the tormenting experiences that he was having. Wishing you both all the best.
I agree that the exploitation of Jani is unconscionable. It is also heartbreaking that her creative attempts to survive, i.e. the voices and visions that she experiences, have been so comprehensively misunderstood.
Fortunately, healing alternatives do exist and the fantastic work of the Voice Collective project in London is a brilliant example of this, an approach that I sincerely hope will become more widely available to children like Jani and their families.
We never received a response from Oprah but as you suggest, it might be worth trying to send this letter directly to Jani’s father. Perhaps he would listen…
This is such a sad story Corinna but as you say, it is important to remember that despite what has been stolen from us, transformation, restoration and healing is always a possibility…
Interesting how those words came to you – from the collective unconscious perhaps?! – but I wonder who is actually suffering from cognitive dissonance. Is it 8 year old Jani who seems to be able to articulate and communicate about her frightening experiences so clearly, or is it the adults around her? How do they fail to see and hear the meaning in her experiences, rendering them a symptom of schizophrenia instead? I wonder if it is they who need study further…
This story is horrifying and aside from Jani’s ‘treatment’ one wonders why her family and the professionals working with her think it is acceptable to invade her privacy in such a way. That in itself disturbs me, never mind what else she is being subjected to.
To counter-balance such a disturbing story I felt it was crucial to highlight the work of the Hearing Voices Movement which offers such a humane and hopeful approach and a viable alternative for Jani and other children like her, who are suffering because of scary voices and visions. There is always hope.
Great to hear you affirming what I have said in this post about how incredibly important the work of the Hearing Voices Movement is fo a number of reasons: that it offers a completely different way of thinking about AND responding to human distress and extreme experiences, that our work is about sharing power and moving beyond the them/us divide, and that we are a worldwide movement – how comforting and fantastic it is to have a support network that spreads across the globe! And look what cool people you get to meet! Hope the training in Toronto went well – I bet it did!
Thank you for those heartfelt words Mary – really great to hear. I remember meeting you for the first time in Manchester at the Hearing Voices Network 15th Anniversary conference – look how much has been achieved in that time! Happy Anniversary to us all!
You raise some important questions David about the importance of attending to the subtle and not so subtle changes that happen at multiple levels. In answer to your question about whether there is something unconscious happening when we hear voices, for me, communication from my voices seems to make audible what may be lurking, deep within my unconscious…
You are absolutely right Stephen that many people – 2/3 of voice hearers in fact, hear voices that are not problematic. As well as this, voices have been experienced by many significant people, including most religious and spiritual leaders, and many philosophers, thinkers and artists, throughout time. Historically, hearing voices was understood very differently and it was only with the arrival of biological psychiatry, that such experiences were deemed symptomatic of an illness. Fortunately, the work of the Hearing Voices Movement is reclaiming this experience as a common human experience and working to change this so that psychologists and other mental health professionals will no longer be penalised for simply honouring people’s experiences!
Respect and thanks to you Sera for having the courage to write about such painful experiences so beautifully and candidly. I am so glad that you and your daughter are in a safe enough place now that you felt able to write this. It is a real gift to other women who have endured similar losses.
It is awful that you had to endure this on your own because you feared others reactions; only when we have the bravery to speak out about such common yet still taboo experiences, can we try to create a world in which others others will not have to suffer such agonies in silence.
Report comment
Thank you Phil, for taking a stand and drawing our attention to these disturbing developments. We should be told.
Report comment
My point about the bus pass was less about whether subsidised travel is of value to those who are living on benefits and more about the pessimistic messages I received as a psychiatric inpatient. Indeed, the current cuts to benefits and the merciless attacks on the vulnerable by our government are deeply concerning. For many, recovery is a luxury they can ill afford; survival is the name of the game.
Report comment
Thanks for sharing those thoughts David, very interesting. I hope that one day we will be able to have the freedom to choose from a broad range of theories, ideas and explanations for the human condition and not have to be subjected to the dominance of this unscientific, unhelpful biomedical model.
Report comment
Ha! That is so cool to hear Olga! Delighted to hear that our Danish family have joined us!
Report comment
So many people have said that their recovery began when they escaped mental health services which seems so absurd to me. As you know all too well Chrys, unhelpful and damaging experiences in services, are all too common. I have huge admiration for your work and your determination to change the system. Yet another woman on a mission!
Report comment
Know of your boycott Jack – good work!
Report comment
I agree, who needs a psychologist who is scared of you! Sounds like they have a problem to me! Sad that you have to go through this though when all you are trying to do is get some help and talk to someone. I do hope that you are able to find the a Hearing Voices Group near to you – we accept all people, regardless of diagnosis. We are all just people.
Report comment
Delighted to hear that you are reading ‘Trauma & Recovery’ Oli! I agree, if we had a mental health system based on Judith Herman’s work than the unscientific and pessimistic biomedical model, then the world would be a better place for us all.
Report comment
And why should you be stigmatized for being different Licinia? I want to live in a world where we can be curious about our differences and celebrate our diversity.
You can find out more about Hearng Voices Network in Scandanavia here: http://www.intervoiceonline.org/
Good luck!
Report comment
I agree John, Kafkaesque is a good description of my own and many other people’s experiences in the mental health system. I was fortunate to escape…not everyone is so lucky. I too am pleased that the Hearing Voices Network are taking a stan in this important debate!
Report comment
Thank you for those supportive comments Duane – I too look forward to a time when these abuses of people’s human rights are a thing of the past. In the meantime, let’s keep fighting the good fight!
In solidarity,
Jacqui
Report comment
I am finding it fascinating to see how this discussion has unfolded. Lots of powerful, intense and uncomfortable feelings have been aroused which has led to a powerful debate…
I originally posted my blog because I was so disturbed by what I read. Since then, a lot more details have emerged about Jani and her family. What has also become clear, are these powerful and alternative, sometimes contrary, perspectives between psychiatric survivors and family members. As I have already said, I think these issues warrant their own post…
Report comment
There are many disturbing and worrying aspects about what is/has happened to Jani and her so-called treatment. As I have said previously, all we can do is speculate about her family and their difficulties. What is indisputable is that no child, whatever their experiences, should be on these levels of medication. Full stop.
Report comment
I think that it would be a great idea to relaunch this campaign especially in light of this:
‘Jani’s brother has a diagnosis of autism, but ‘can’t rule out he has schizophrenia too’…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/children_shealth/9828583/We-did-not-know-that-our-schizophrenic-daughter-January-Schofields-imaginary-friends-were-hallucinations.html …
Report comment
Thank you for that Jennifer. Please feel free to share those 10 tips on your web site as well as a link to the Voice Collective web site which has lots of excellent resources including a fabulous short film made my some young voice hearers.
I have been amazed by the discussion that has been provoked by my original post. I think these issues deserve their own post so I will revisit them at a later date. I like the idea of ‘building a bridge’…
Report comment
Thanks Kelly – glad you enjoyed my post! It has provoked a strong reaction and many passionate responses…I would say that we have moved beyond anti-psychiatry to post-psychiatry – Phil Thomas has written an interesting post on this previously on MiA, as well as many others writings. One of the huge strengths of Intervoice and the Hearing Voices Movement is that we have critiqued psychiatry but that is not our main objective. As I said in my last post, we have moved beyond critiquing the status quo and created our own fantastic solutions instead. I think that change needs to be happening at all levels…
Report comment
Well some of us do care and our numbers are growing! I and many others share your outrage about the ways in which drug company propaganda has become truth – i.e. this notion that there are real chemical imbalances in our brains which can be corrected by taking pills – a great marketing tool that many people accept as science. Fortunately, many of us are now wise to these ploys and are making sure that as many other people as possible, know it too!
Report comment
I am not sure that people are trying to ‘spin’ anything, just reflecting on what comes up for them when reading and hearing about Jani and her treatment and providing factual information that has previously been in the public domain.
I appreciate your wish to not blame but seek to try and understand. However I don’t believe in schizophrenia. I think it is a damaging concept and that so called symptoms are reactions, often to traumatic or overwhelming experiences. I also feel deeply troubled by what is really going on here although ultimately, all we can all do, is speculate, muse, discuss…
Report comment
Yes, I think many of us on here have considered exactly that.
Report comment
I also wonder what other stories and perspectives might emerge, if other approaches were available to this family…
Report comment
This is an all too common experience, in many parts of the world it seems Carina. It just makes me more determined to continue to raise awareness of the harm caused by those who are supposed to help, and of the many excellent alternatives that are developing across the world. This web site is a fantastic way of spreading awareness of both of these crucial issues. Pleased to ‘meet’ you here – very much look forward to meeting you in Gothenburg in the Spring!
Report comment
I agree with everything that you say.
I am disappointed that the Guardian – ‘my newspaper’ – would publish something like this. As you say, no critique whatsoever. As I’ve just said in response to Olga, I think working with and educating the media is crucial. I am fed up with reading stories about ‘mental illness’ in such biological, reductionist terms, in nearly every media representation of madness and distress I see, read or hear.
Report comment
It is funny but when I was writing the post I imagined what it might mean if Jani were to read it in the future…
Thanks for sharing that Olga. The more I hear about Jani and her family, and the collusion of the professionals that are working with them, the more unsettled I feel.
Another thing that disturbs me is the way in which the media present such stories so uncritically. Reading some of the comments on other sites about the original article, it is clear that apparently intelligent people accept this story at face value and just think – oh, how sad. These stories are so harmful because they propagate false ideas about the causes of extreme distress AND shape how many people think about the such experiences, increasing ignorance, stigma and patronising attitudes. Developing good links with the media to try and better inform journalists is essential. On the to do list!
Report comment
Couldn’t agree more – we do live in such a crazy world!
Report comment
I am so pleased that you found this helpful and that you have discovered HVN. Lovely that you wrote to say so. Thank you Pam.
Report comment
Parents coaching children in order to obtain disability income isn’t something I know much about but I can imagine it happens. As to whether so-called illnesses are behavioral is open to debate. It seems to me that troubling behaviours are the manifestation and consequence of overwhelming emotions, reactions to the environment, impact of significant relationships etc. Simply switching the frame from illness to behaviour isn’t the answer for me. A focus on it may be part of what helps makes sense of the whole person and their experience…
Report comment
I agree Carina that there are ALWAYS answers, even if they lead to some very painful, uncomfortable issues. No experience, nor person is utterly incomprehesible, if we are simply willing to be with people, relate to them and really hear what they have to say. Sadly many ‘treatments’ actually make matters so much worse which is a travesty. Fortunately, there are a growing number of us who are expressing our outrage at such misguided attempts to help and who also have the knowledge and experience to advocate ways of working collaboratively that really do help.
Looking forward to collaborating with you and others in Sweden in April, to help spread the word about what works!
Report comment
This is disturbing to read and leaves me with even more questions about Jani and what is really going on for her…
Report comment
I am sorry to hear about the awful time you and your son have been having. I have met and worked with many families who have been beside themselves with worry about their kids. As a parent I can entirely empathise. That is why I posted the 10-point guide for parents, indicating what they can do if a child tells them that he or she hears voices: from our experiences, the less alarmed parents feel, the better the outcomes for their children.
I hope that your son is able to get the support from his therapist to make sense of the tormenting experiences that he was having. Wishing you both all the best.
Report comment
I agree that the exploitation of Jani is unconscionable. It is also heartbreaking that her creative attempts to survive, i.e. the voices and visions that she experiences, have been so comprehensively misunderstood.
Fortunately, healing alternatives do exist and the fantastic work of the Voice Collective project in London is a brilliant example of this, an approach that I sincerely hope will become more widely available to children like Jani and their families.
We never received a response from Oprah but as you suggest, it might be worth trying to send this letter directly to Jani’s father. Perhaps he would listen…
Report comment
This is such a sad story Corinna but as you say, it is important to remember that despite what has been stolen from us, transformation, restoration and healing is always a possibility…
Report comment
Interesting how those words came to you – from the collective unconscious perhaps?! – but I wonder who is actually suffering from cognitive dissonance. Is it 8 year old Jani who seems to be able to articulate and communicate about her frightening experiences so clearly, or is it the adults around her? How do they fail to see and hear the meaning in her experiences, rendering them a symptom of schizophrenia instead? I wonder if it is they who need study further…
Report comment
Thanks Chrys.
This story is horrifying and aside from Jani’s ‘treatment’ one wonders why her family and the professionals working with her think it is acceptable to invade her privacy in such a way. That in itself disturbs me, never mind what else she is being subjected to.
To counter-balance such a disturbing story I felt it was crucial to highlight the work of the Hearing Voices Movement which offers such a humane and hopeful approach and a viable alternative for Jani and other children like her, who are suffering because of scary voices and visions. There is always hope.
Jacqui
Report comment
Absolutely, Olga Runciman very much too!
Report comment
Hi Kevin,
Great to hear you affirming what I have said in this post about how incredibly important the work of the Hearing Voices Movement is fo a number of reasons: that it offers a completely different way of thinking about AND responding to human distress and extreme experiences, that our work is about sharing power and moving beyond the them/us divide, and that we are a worldwide movement – how comforting and fantastic it is to have a support network that spreads across the globe! And look what cool people you get to meet! Hope the training in Toronto went well – I bet it did!
All best wishes,
Jacqui
Report comment
Great minds think alike! 🙂
Report comment
Thank you for those heartfelt words Mary – really great to hear. I remember meeting you for the first time in Manchester at the Hearing Voices Network 15th Anniversary conference – look how much has been achieved in that time! Happy Anniversary to us all!
Report comment
You raise some important questions David about the importance of attending to the subtle and not so subtle changes that happen at multiple levels. In answer to your question about whether there is something unconscious happening when we hear voices, for me, communication from my voices seems to make audible what may be lurking, deep within my unconscious…
Report comment
You are absolutely right Stephen that many people – 2/3 of voice hearers in fact, hear voices that are not problematic. As well as this, voices have been experienced by many significant people, including most religious and spiritual leaders, and many philosophers, thinkers and artists, throughout time. Historically, hearing voices was understood very differently and it was only with the arrival of biological psychiatry, that such experiences were deemed symptomatic of an illness. Fortunately, the work of the Hearing Voices Movement is reclaiming this experience as a common human experience and working to change this so that psychologists and other mental health professionals will no longer be penalised for simply honouring people’s experiences!
Report comment