When Professor Ross first mentioned our major project for
Digital Humanities, I immediately had an idea what I wanted to work on. Last
semester I wrote an essay about the Psychiatric Survivor Movement. The
Psychiatric Survivor Movement was a social movement starting in the 1960s, that
was composed of individuals who considered themselves to be survivors or
ex-patients of the mental health treatment programs in hospitals. Members of
the movement came together to stand up against psychiatric abuse they
experienced in hospitals and other institutions. The research conducted on the
movement suggests it has succeeded in providing ex-patients or survivors with
social support, empowerment, mental wellbeing, self-management and reduced
institutional service use. Furthermore, it proved the movement was successful
in making the transition from a radical, anti-psychiatry group to one that was
both recognized and respected. This was primarily proven after examining
documents written by ex-patients in Toronto that discussed their experiences
with psychiatric treatments that were available to them. Most of the documents
I used to collect this information was from the Psychiatric Survivor Archives
of Toronto website (PSAT). This website has digitized several documents,
posters, pictures, artwork, and articles that were significant to the movement.
The movement, originating in Toronto, developed a successful and widespread magazine
know as Phoenix Rising, which have also all been digitized and are accessible
on the PSAT website.
An issue I
came across in my research was navigating through the PSAT website. While they
have done an excellent job making legible, digital copies of important
documents, finding a specific document is extremely difficult and the websites
lay out is not user friendly. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity
to use the research I have done and make a digital and interactive format of my
essay on a website that will easily link users to the digital Phoenix Rising
articles available on the PSAT website. Furthermore, my website will follow the
stories of a selected group of individuals who wrote these articles by
including audio recordings of their testimonies regarding their psychiatric
treatment. This feature will allow visitors to retrieve the information in
multiple formats thus making it more accessible. Including the first hand
accounts and oral histories will best capture the thoughts and emotions of
survivors.
As
aforementioned, this movement began in Canada with a small group of individuals
in Toronto who called their organization “On Our Own.” It was not long before
support for the movement grew and spread across Canada. I would like my website
to incorporate a map that tracks how the movement spread across the country and
how its literature was distributed. It is important to note this movement was
progressing in the United States at the same time; therefore, I would also like
to map out how the American Movement influenced the Canadian Movement and vice
versa. This can be done using Google Earth. After attending the Google Earth
workshop, I am confident in my ability to make this fun and exciting feature on
my website. I would also like to include a timeline in this section of the
website to help users make sense of the points pinned on the maps.
Finally, I
would like to include a section on the website that discusses the relevance the
Psychiatric Survivor Movement has today. Only recent research has focused on
understanding the neurological and genetic causes for mental illness while
trying to unravel the relationship between the person, the brain, their body
and the disease. While there are still many misconceptions and
misunderstandings about mental illnesses today, it is societally and
scientifically accepted as a serious condition. It has been determined that
mental illnesses can take many forms and each mental case is unique. Due to the
movement’s success, treatment opportunities are better suited for patients now
who choose to use these services. Hospitals are equipped with trained
professionals who understand mental illnesses and counselling service
facilities are rapidly expanding across Furthermore, the movement has enhanced
program development and funding allocations towards mental illness research.
For example, Bell Canada launched their Bell Let’s Talk program in 2010 that is
committed to raising funds to support a wide range of mental health
organizations across Canada. Their program sets a date that allows individuals
to talk, text and tweet about mental health in order to break down the barriers
associated with mental illness. The program raises awareness by utilizing
social media, as they donate 5 cents per tweet that uses the hashtag
#bellletstalk on the set date mentioned above. Providing users with information
about such programs will add to their exposure and will act as an opportunity
where people may learn how easy it can be to help a great cause.
So far, I
have created the website using Wix and I am still experimenting with the possibilities
for website design and layout. I am hoping to use some of the skills I have
learned from Codecademy in order to personalize some of the websites features.
I have also recorded the testimonies that I will be including on my website,
uploading them will be the next step. I have also organized the PSAT documents
I would like to include. I am still researching current mental health programs,
organizations and campaigns I would like to link and provide information about.
I am still trying to decide if and how I should include links and information
about secondary sources I have found useful for individuals interested in
learning more about the Psychiatric Survivor Movement and psychiatric
abuse. I am also debating including a
section of the website where individuals can make posts, ask questions and chat
with other users about the movement and mental illness.
Thank you
for taking the time to read my project plan. Any comments, new ideas or
improvement suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I look forward to seeing
everybody’s finished product.
