Late last Saturday night (January 16, 2010), Judi Chamberlin died at home, with family at her side. This was not unexpected. Judi has been receiving hospice services for over a year as a chronic lung condition worsened to the point where she decided to enroll in hospice services. She shared her thoughts and experiences as a hospice patient on her blog, “Life as a Hospice Patient.”
Judi is best known as a pioneer in the psychiatric survivors’ movement – or “Mad Pride.” Judi and and a handful of others grew a movement that challenged the notion that a psychiatric label was a justification for denial of basic human rights, and leaving individuals at the often not-so-tender mercies of mental health professionals.
Readers of this blog – especially outside of the disability community – might have noticed that NDY doesn’t devote a lot of discussion or recognition to psychiatric terminology. We also (I hope successfully) steer clear of sanctioning forced psychiatric treatment as our answer to people with disabilities who want to kill themselves or want help doing it.
Judi Chamberlin had a lot to do with that approach. Early on, she challenged those of us working in NDY to be careful not to answer one perceived injustice by advocating another. She was right and I hope we’ve done our best to avoid those traps.
Like many people in and out of the movement, I will miss her. It’s not that we talked that much, but I often felt her looking over my shoulder, making sure I didn’t screw it up.
For more information on Judi, including links to recent coverage about her, please visit the The National Empowerment Center.
There is a page devoted to all things Judi Chamberlin. –Stephen Drake
Quote, “Readers of this blog – especially outside of the disability community – might have noticed that NDY doesn’t devote a lot of discussion or recognition to psychiatric terminology. We also (I hope successfully) steer clear of sanctioning forced psychiatric treatment as our answer to people with disabilities who want to kill themselves or want help doing it.”
A point in which I totally agree with you about, Stephen, since I’m not fond of psychiatry and their “labels”.
Thank you. I have noticed the absence of psychological jargon on NDY and appreciate it. Judi Chamberlin did her job well. I am sorry that I did not know her but will read her blog.
In my nearing 25 years of support group by mail with other professional artists who are people with disabilities, I have become close friends with three artists with bipolar (formerly manic depression) mental illness. It’s been a long learning experience. Over the years, I have
met people with a variety of mental disabilities, some of them relatives, and some when I spent two weeks on a psychiatric floor in a hospital after having CFS/ME escalation,* asking to be taken to my local hospital where they didn’t know what to do with CFS/ME.
*severe insomnia for several weeks resulting in not knowing if I was awake or dreaming, while having headpains, eye infection and the rest of the CFS/ME symptoms. While very weak in my first week in hospital, I was shown great kindness by inpatients who were concerned and kept asking how I was. I was very pleased with the social contact after so long isolated. In my second week, I began organizing the patients, for whom there was little to do, in my brief trips in wheelchair to “day room” with attendant pushing wheelchair or “meetings” with entire floor and staff.
As one of my friends points out, people with mental disabilities are stigmatized in our society. (See any political blog where opponents are insulted by ableist language about mental illness.)
PS The word I have to type,in the box, since I couldn’t make out the first one, is “seuris”, amusingly close to the Yiddish word, “tsuris” phonetically spelled, meaning trouble. My Yiddish grandma,
Bubbie (from Bubba, with “ie” sound of E. Europe) had a favorite saying, “You need ‘mozzel'(good luck) in your schlemozzel’ (bad luck)”. True.
Upon further reflection: All things are connected…It was this time of year that Esmin Green died in a psychiatric emergency room in Brooklyn,NY while staff walked passed as she lay dying on the floor, after waiting nearly 24 hours to be seen by a doctor (blood clot from inactivity of waiting, coroner said) and this week, the news indicated the hospital ordered to make reforms…