NEW YORK, May 10, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. residents suffering from mental
illnesses have a new public voice, owing to the growth of so-called mad pride
events, mental health professionals say.
Yale School of Medicine psychiatry lecturer Charles Barber said the growing mad
pride movement represents a new generation's attempt to bring mental illness
into the public eye without shame or remorse, The New York Times said Saturday.
"Until now, the acceptance of mental illness has pretty much stopped at
depression," Barber said. "But a newer generation, fueled by the Internet and
other sophisticated delivery systems, is saying, 'We deserve to be heard, too.'"
Molly Sprengelmeyer, who helped organize a mad pride group in North Carolina,
said the events help challenge stereotypes of mental illness and improve the
lives of those suffering from such illnesses.
"It used to be you were labeled with your diagnosis and that was it; you were
marginalized," Sprengelmeyer told the Times. "If people found out, it was a
death sentence, professionally and socially.
"We are hoping to change all that by talking."
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