Issues and campaigns: Mental health
Examining mental distress and ill-health and the (lack of) support available
BPD: Bullshit Psychiatric Diagnosis
Basic problem: dysfunctional brain. Poisonous dynamic. Bad person. Difficult. Branded, pigeonholed, dubbed bonkers, psycho, disturbed. Best put down ‘borderline’. Please don’t bother protesting, dear. Boffin professionals drafted brilliant Ph Ds berating personal downfall Browbeaten patients drop by pharmacy, drugs bring … Read more
Video: Poets at the launch of Asylum, Spring 2023
Who’s the Refuser?
Rebecca is a school refuser The lessons confuse her Miss knows her sister is a substance misuser It doesn’t excuse her She’s labelled a shirker, assigned to an overworked social work a conflict defuser But Becky’s still a school refuser … Read more
Poetry in Asylum magazine
Janine has recently taken over as Poetry Editor of Asylum magazine. Asylum wants your poetry for our radical mental health magazine. Asylum has been running for nearly forty years, providing a platform for all perspectives on mental health. Asylum is influenced and … Read more
Drop the Disorder!
Practical Humanistic Models for Supporting Autistic People in Distress: time for a paradigm shift?
a guest post by Ian Hutchinson, autistic clinician – NHS children’s services, Cornwall Thinking about practical humanistic models for supporting autistic people in distress, time for a paradigm shift? Over recent years and in service provision ranging from education and … Read more
The Roadmap Ahead
What if I can’t stand the train without the carriage to myself? What if I can’t stretch and strain to reach up to the luggage shelf? What if all the outside seats are taken and the queue’s too long? And … Read more
Stop this deportation!
Published in Solidarity 562: Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Home Office on Friday 4 September to demand that Osime Brown not be deported to Jamaica. Led by Osime’s family, the protest was supported by Autistic Inclusive Meets (AIM), … Read more
Your Place
Last year, I wrote a poem (a pantoum) called ‘This Place’ about visiting my son in the adolescent psychiatric unit where he spent four months (read it here). He now has his own flat, living independently with support. So I … Read more