My Project Plan

        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.