Asylum Magazine (Volume 26 No 4) Winter 2019

‘Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?’ asks Mark Schwalbe in his film review of the Joker. Whatever the result of the UK election, it feels like we are at a turning point in history.

If, as our feature article suggests, we have already reached an environmental tipping point, what does that mean for our individual and collective sanity, and the organisation of support and protest? Jonathan Gadsby suggests the Extinction Rebellion movement has not only put climate change on the agenda, but has also created a new kind of space for individual and collective support.

Dieneke Hubbeling’s account of tick-box services, and our News and Reports section, certainly paints a depressing picture of established services. Nonetheless, Joy Hibbins’ article offers hope that there are still services available which are proactively, and tenaciously, oriented to kindness and survival. We are always interested to hear from our readers about positive news stories and examples of individual or collective resistance.

In the meantime, what does it mean to look after oneself in a crazy world? William Park points to the need to value our inner life and, in the face of storms, to weave a personalised ‘latticework of comfort’. To do so, we need to be alert to new ways of understanding responding to distress. Such alertness is often a feature of Asylum articles – such as ROYCURTIS’ ‘Waves of Fear’ and Dave Barton’s ‘Experiences Beyond Consensus Reality’– and, especially, in our illustrations and creative writing contributions: James Walker’s ‘Shimmering Stone’, for example, and Jessica Matthews’ ‘Zoloft Dreams’.

Sophie Watson’s book review of Mad Muse points to the power of memoir to unsettle established understandings about mental health. Asylum has always made space for untold or unheard stories. For example, this issue includes Abraham Aamidor’s powerful account of the harsh psychiatric treatment many Holocaust survivors received on arrival in America. Beyond telling stories, Phil Hutchinson asks whether we, as a community, should campaign for change. If suffering is, as Jonathan Gadsby suggests, our inner extinction rebellion, then what might we contribute to – or draw from – outward facing protests? Let us know your thoughts.

Download Volume 26 No 4

Contents

Editorial

Extinction Rebellion: the movement of tipping points – Jonathan Gadsby *SAMPLE ARTICLE *

Waves of Fear – ROYCURTIS

Zoloft Dreams – Jessica Matthews

Does Box Ticking Ensure Good Care? – Dieneke Hubbeling *SAMPLE ARTICLE*

Just Another Holocaust Story – Abraham Aamidor

Psychiatry and experiences beyond consensus reality – Dave Barton *SAMPLE ARTICLE *

The need for a fundamental change in the way services respond to people in suicidal crisis – Joy Hibbins

An Evening – John Gimblett

Personal Latticeworks: an introductory idea – William Park