Viewing the Suicide Prevention Industry Through a Critical Lens

A Recording is Now Available HERE

Keris Jän Myrick, Karin Jervert, Robert Whitaker, and Rob Wipond will present on the topic of the suicide prevention industry this week, Wednesday, June 1st at 3:00 pm Pacific, 6:00 pm Eastern. Each Panelist will have twenty minutes to present. The rest of our time will be allotted for discussion arising from audience questions.

Our three guests will take a closer critical look at crisis lines, suicide prevention strategies, and specifically the U.S. government’s roll-out of 988  (including its challenges to privacy and the potential increased use of forced interventions).

We hope you can join us!

Guest Speakers

Keris Jän Myrick  is a boundary spanning, bridge building mental health advocate who breaks down barriers with curiosity and creativity to disrupt the mental health system status quo to promote autonomy and flourishing where  people live, work and play . With over 20 years in the mental health field, Myrick fights to advance lived experience leadership, non-coopted peer ‘workforce’ and dismantle disparities for people who have been most impacted by historical, intuitional and systemic barriers. Myrick has authored several book chapters and peer reviewed journal articles on digital technology, in mental health, peer workforce, race equity issues and is the host of the podcast “Unapologetically Black Unicorns”

Karin Jervert is an artist, author, and activist. She identifies as a survivor of psychiatry. Her work explores empowerment, the normalization of suffering, and the power of creative expression to transform trauma both individual and collective. Jervert is currently the Arts Editor at Mad in America and led Mad in America’s Suicide Hotline Transparency Project.

In collaboration with Maggie Leppert and others, This project aimed to provide people in suicidal distress with the resources and information they need to make an informed choice about hotlines to call, particularly since call tracing, for some, can lead to traumatizing, or even lethal, interventions. It included three interviews with lines that do not trace or intervene without consent, a community poll, and a directory of lines with their policy information publicly available on Mad in America’s website.  .

Author Robert Whitaker published his seminal book Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill in 2001. With that book, he began more than two decades of investigation and critique of the modern mental health system. Whitaker has continued to write other books challenging mental health services and treatment of those who use them. Whitaker also runs MadInAmerica.com, a platform for critical examination of mental health and the mental health industry where a broad selection of critics and psychiatric survivors write.

Rob Wipond is an investigative journalist and author of the upcoming book, Your Consent is Not Required: The Rise in Psychiatric Detentions, Forced Treatment, and Abusive Guardianships.

Judi’s Room

The meeting is a part of MFI’s regularly scheduled  educational series called Judi’s Room, a collaboration between MindFreedom International and the organization I Love You, Lead On (named for the favored quote by ADA champion Justin Dart).Judi’s Room is named after the famed human rights leader, Judi Chamberlin. It is free and open to the public but pre-registration is required.

To register click HERE

If you wish to be included on the list to receive future announcements in relation to Judi’s Room email office@mindfreedom.org with ‘Add me to Judi’s Room’ in the subject heading.

If you wish to suggest topics of interest to you or expert presenters for a future Judi’s Room, please send them to office@mindfreedom.org.