Paula Caplan’s play explores psychiatric labeling with comedic drama…

Paula Caplan is an activist psychologist, playwright, author of nonfiction books, and member of MindFreedom. Since Creative Maladjustment week is just next week, July 7-14, Paula is sharing a new video of her play being performed before a live audience:

She writes:

As many of you know, the subject of psychiatric diagnosis has been hotly debated in the news recently. A play I wrote called CALL ME CRAZY — a comedy-drama with music — is about psych diagnosis and, when done in NYC, was rave-reviewed and played to sold-out houses.

Now at last a video of one of the performances (with the wonderful Providence, RI cast) is on YouTube, thanks to the assistance of Community Access of NYC.

When the play is performed, I include a Playwright’s Note in the program to let people know that “Everything in this play is true, especially the parts you will be sure I made up!”

The quality of the video is not great, but you’ll get the idea! I urge everyone to watch and enjoy it … and maybe learn something from it, too.

The wonderful organization MindFreedom International, created by the brilliant, brave David Oaks, and the great physician, activist, and humanitarian Patch Adams took a wonderful phrase from Martin Luther King, Jr., and have planned Creative Maladjustment Week the second week of July. Dr. King said warned of the dangers of adjusting to a problematic, oppressive society and urged people to participate in creative maladjustment.

CALL ME CRAZY! What it is and how to use it for Creative Maladjustment Week (or any time)!
Harvard psychologist and activist Paula J. Caplan was shocked by what she learned when she spent two years on committees responsible for compiling the “Bible” of psychiatric diagnosis. She resigned and wrote a play about the subject and called it CALL ME CRAZY. She describes it as a comedy-drama with music. In its Off-Broadway run it was rave-reviewed and played to sold-out houses. A typical comment from an audience member was, “It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me think.” Now, Paula has made a filmed version of this stage play available at no cost for use in celebrating MindFreedom International’s upcoming “Creative Maladjustment Week,” July 7-14.

Paula encourages you to do any or all of the following between now and Creative Maladjustment Week or during that week:

• Watch CALL ME CRAZY yourself.
• Throw a pizza party or organize a softball game, and have everyone gather around and watch CALL ME CRAZY together.
• Organize a public gathering to educate laypeople and/or professionals about this important subject by having them watch CALL ME CRAZY and then holding a discussion afterward. Consider inviting activists, survivors, and professionals to make comments to get the discussion started.
• Join the Facebook page called Stop Psychiatric Diagnosis Harm and the Call Me Crazy page on Facebook (be sure it is the one by that name that is about this play — there is another with the same name that is not at all about this), where you can announce when and where you are doing any of the above, and afterward, post reports about how it went, who said what, what questions or points were raised, and what activism grows out of that.
• Email your reports what you are doing in CM Week to MindFreedom International at office@mindfreedom.org for posting on this site.