I love the Mad Pride Movement my dear friend, DavidOaks–and many others like him–have helped to nurture and grow across the globethese past 30 years. It is the heritage of MindFreedom International and itencompasses a great deal of awakening and success that we should all be proudof. Having said that, I am ready to suggest a new phase in the development ofthis “revolution,” as David was fond of encouraging. I am ready to suggest thatthis next phase could, indeed, represent a much deeper and broader revolutionthat any of us could have imagined.

We need a total revolution: an awakening to a better way ofliving, of being human, in all areas of life in our society and as individuals:socially, politically, spiritually, in areas of health and wellness—you name it!We need to respect each others beliefs, yet at the same time, encourage acloser look at our assumptions and advocate for “thinking out of the box.” The challengeswe face are monumental and, in my view, require a fundamental nonviolent revolution.

We are very much like fish that do not understand what dryis because we have never been out of the water. Not a terribly accurate analogybecause the “dry” I refer to is community. The “dry” I refer to isliving in harmony with the pace and rhythm of Mother Earth. We in the West(especially) have lived such isolated, individualized lives—separate from thenatural world–we RARELY understand what it means to have community and RARELY payheed to our intuition that tells us when we have violated nature’s laws. But itis vitally important we try to remember. It is who we are at our core. It ispart of our genetic code. I believe we are all connected to Mother Earth and toour spirit and we are inherently communal and social creatures. Technology(Netflix and texting through cell phones, etc.) is taking us even further andfaster away from our true nature than the technologies of previous generations.And we are quickly forgetting our humanity in the process. The real danger?These developments make us easier to control and accept the eco-disasters thatsurround us daily, the widening gap between rich and poor and the psychedestruction that comes from advertising in every facet of modern life. We haveno hope for a better future if we lose the drive for resistance to the tyrannyof the status quo.

This brings me to the launch of our newest MindFreedominitiative. The thinking I’ve outlined above is the impetus for what we’recalling “MFI Health Connections.” As a first step in making connections andthinking “out of the box,” we’re calling attention to the myriad ways ourmental health is intimately and irrevocably connected to our surroundingenvironment and what we put into our bodies. Paying more attention to thoserelationships will help all of us avoid the stresses that lead to depressionand the threat of emotional crisis. And at the other end of the equation (forpsychiatric survivors), these considerations will help us recover more fullyand permanently from whatever path we have pursued in the mental health systemthat did not work well.

MindFreedom has, for years, brought to our attention the extraordinary benefits of communing with nature, good relationships, walking and eating well. This program solidifies and expands upon that line of inquiry. We intentionally and enthusiastically embrace what can be called the naturopathicmodel of health and well being. We fully recognize that nature has designed usto be—at our core—interconnected with the pace, scale and rhythm of nature. Wemust make decisions for ourselves based on how we have evolved and what naturehas provided for our health. Doing so, we believe, will lead to happier, lessstressful lives.

If MindFreedom and associated Mad Pride organizations haveso eloquently called into question a corrupt psychiatric-BIG Pharma system, whywould we exclude the Medical-Industrial Complex in our criticism? While Irecognize the brilliance of doctors and hospitals in helping people recover fromtraumatic injuries, I likewiserecognize the precisely converse utter failure of that same well-funded,technologically advanced medical system to make a dent in the incidence of chronicdiseases. Deadly chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes onlyseem to get worse in developed nations. And now our children are increasinglystricken with childhood diabetes, leukemia, autism and obesity. These arediseases of our modern civilization: lonely, alienating and far out of balancewith nature. The standard system of drugs/surgery/radiation has utterly failedus. It is prohibitively expensive, ineffective and dangerous…and even worse:very few of us are even happy with the way the system works—or should I say, doesn’twork!

We need to join together and question our underlyingassumptions.

“By conventional medical standards,you are considered healthy as long as you are not diagnosed with a disease. Amore accurate definition of good health would include a strong immune system,the ability to adapt during stressful periods, as well as a consistentexperience of vitality and mental clarity.”

~James D. Jordan, CNC, JD from “Your Health Is In Your Hands:
The 3 Reasons You’re Not Well And What to Do About It”

My contention (and that of health educator and nutritionalconsultant, James Jordan) is that when we have learned about the three underlyingcauses of all diseases: lack of essential nutrients, toxicity and chronicstress—we can take steps to address our weaknesses and achieve true vibrant health. And when we have thisstrength, we can deal with the stresses that inevitably come from living in asick society. When we are on the road to vibrant health we can more easily andquickly recover from whatever injuries we have survived in either the mentalhealth system or the medical system.

We hope you will join us in the development of our newprogram, MFI Health Connections. Our first project will be the creation of aclearinghouse of information, allies, resources and ideas on the link betweengood health practices and resilient mental health. Please write to us with your interest in the initiative orwith any questions: MFIHealthConnections@mindfreedom.org.A web site for the project is under development. 

November 2014
John Jordan-Cascade
Communications Adviser to MindFreedom International

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MORE about the campaign from last Summer->>

Portrait of John by Debbie Thornton