Touching on Dr. Jennifer Poole's TEDx Talk.

I’ll just touch on some of Jennifer Poole’s TedX Talk in my own words and then you are welcome to watch the talk yourself.

She mainly talks about antisanism, which is a movement that has been less noticed by many, and the sanist attitudes that are so strongly opposed by antisanism are so pervasive we often don’t even realize our own acts of this discrimination. The movement calls on anyone to look at their own sanists views or ways in which they unintentionally practice this discrimination. Poole claims the discrimination is as simple as one saying “you’re so crazy” or “that’s insane” but what she doesn’t go into too much detail about is how that is extended into all sorts of abusive tactics utilized in a more systemic discrimination.

She touches on witch hunts, saying they are an early form of sanism, giving that as an example for how sanism has been around and resulted in the persecution of individuals through much of human history. She says this with a smile on her face, she seems proud that she can make a difference in or ignorance to the ways in which many of us discriminate against the mentally ill.

She mentions we’re all taught to practice sanism and we often do , whether we mean to or not. She mentions that some now are claiming a new identity of “Mad”, which they hope to find empowering, while reclaiming a word that has sometimes been used oppressively and utilizing it as a source of pride, reclaiming it as a positive force. From what I know on the subject there may be many facts involved in how one can claim a Mad identity is positive and there may be attempts to show it’s a positive thing by advocating for “MadPride” which is another name for the movement of antisanism. These facts that can help make Madness a positive thing include mainly those that dispel the idea that mental illness has an ultimate negative impact on oneself or others when considered independently from hurtful and abusive treatments.

She mentions there are many Myths that many of us carry and that come to mind when faced with an opportunity to be accepting or oppressive to an individual with mental illness. These myths feed sanism and are becoming a focus of the antisanist movement.

Jennifer mentions that fact that if a person experiencing mental illness makes a decision to not take medication they are countered with sanist attitudes that this is a symptom or proof of a mental illness. All in all a very interesting introduction into the relm of antisanism and what it has to offer the public who have been consistently blind to this problem..

#antisanism #witchhunt #myths #meds