Ex-inmates’ Liberation
The following are excerpts from a report by Janet Foner (former International Liberation Reference Person for “Mental Health” Liberation) on the 2018 Ex-inmate and Allies Workshop.
The first work on “mental health” liberation in RC, in 1978, was done by ex-psychiatric inmates—hereafter called “ex-inmates.” Between 1985, when we held our first ex-inmates’ workshop, and 2018, we developed a core of ex-inmate leaders with good attention. They are now active in their local Areas, and many are RC leaders.
In June 2018, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, we held the first Ex-inmates and Allies Workshop. I led the ex-inmates, and Rachel Noble (Regional Reference Person for Oregon, USA) led the allies.
For a month before the workshop, I had a lot more sessions on fear than I’d had in years. At the workshop, I learned that I was not the only ex-inmate feeling more fear than usual. The fear seemed to be about being vulnerable and open in front of allies. Also, having allies present made it easier to look at the hardest parts of having been in the “mental hospital.”
Fifteen ex-inmates participated in the workshop, including two from England and one from Sweden. There were twenty-two allies, including Rachel and the organizer.
On Friday evening the two groups met together for introductions and Shabbat. In the long introductions, I was thrilled that each ex-inmate stood out as a strong liberation leader and a confident person. Then the two groups met separately until the Saturday evening class.
When the ex-inmates met together, we felt a strong sense of relief. Standing out as ex-inmates in a group of allies had made it clear how good it is to be with just each other. We laughed a lot about that.
On Saturday morning we had a short “quiz” about how infrequently or often we tell, or want to tell, our stories. There was a lot of laughing. Then I worked with the ex-inmates on three things:
1) How hard it is to tell our stories, and the benefits of doing so. The isolation we often feel from having been cut off from society in the “mental hospital” can make it difficult to feel like telling our stories, or to even access them. Talking and discharging about the difficulty can make it easier to tell the stories and can help us feel less alone with the depth of hurt associated with them.
2) How hard it is to prioritize ex-inmate liberation. The difficulty in telling, and discharging on, our stories makes it hard to prioritize ex-inmate liberation. Also, the internalized oppression is heavy and includes a lot of shame and humiliation for having been in a “mental hospital.” “Mental health” oppression is not generally understood as an oppression, which makes it harder to focus on. It gets little attention in the wide world. (There is only a small, under-funded movement of psychiatric survivors, many of whom are still on psychiatric drugs.) This is related to the role “mental health” oppression plays in supporting capitalism and the status quo. If “mental health” oppression were more widely known as an oppression, it might be harder for capitalism to keep going.
3) Claiming the identity of ex-inmate. Many ex-inmates would prefer to throw out the identity than to claim it.
I talked with the ex-inmates about being open with and welcoming to the allies and the importance of having allies.
When the allies joined us, I did several demonstrations in which ex-inmates told their stories of being hospitalized. I worked with people of different backgrounds—African heritage, working class, elder, young adult, European, middle class, Gay—and with an insulin-shock survivor.
Each story was unique, and horrifying. All the clients had already been very oppressed before they had ended up in the “mental health” system. Then instead of getting the help they’d been seeking, they had been further oppressed. The stories were powerful and moving. Each person had triumphed over many difficulties to have the good life they had now.
Rachel counseled one of the allies on feelings that had come up from watching the demonstrations, and the ally discharged rage about how badly people had been hurt. In general, the allies moved forward after seeing what ex-inmates have to deal with. They discharged harder on the oppression than they had previously.
On Sunday morning, an ex-inmate chose an ally with whom she had an ongoing relationship, and I did a demonstration in which she attempted to tell the ally what she wanted from her to aid in her re-emergence as an ex-inmate. It was hard for the ex-inmate to talk about that. She felt like no one could reach her. Once she had worked through some of the grief, she was able to say some specific things that she wanted. Then Rachel counseled the ally on what she needed to discharge in order to be an attentive and relaxed counselor for the ex-inmate.
The work on “mental health” liberation cannot be done well without doing the work on getting present. I summarized my "Five-Point Program for getting Present" (see<www.rc.org/publication/journals/recovery_and_re-emergence/rr6/rr6_028_jf>).
Then I talked about making RC more “user friendly” for ex-inmates. We need to be sure that every RCer understands “mental health” liberation and uses it for their own re-emergence. “Mental health” oppression must no longer be a hidden oppression in RC.
(Present Time 203, April 2021)