SPRING 99

New Mailing List
LUNATRIX-L

Lunatrix-L, which is informed and inspired by the women’s liberation movement, is an e-list for psychiatrised women. By this we mean women who have had personal experience of the mental health system which they have found violating and degrading.

We reject the pathologizing, re-traumatizing, narrow and confining interpretations and definitions others have imposed on our experiences and we reject psychiatric labels commonly used for *normal* responses to the violence many of us have endured.

We believe there is a place in each of us where women’s liberation, politics, madness, spirituality, personal history and creativity meet. The Lunatrix-L list is an opportunity for psychiatrised women to connect in that place.

The co-owners of Lunatrix-L are Vanessa Williams and Sasha McInnes. Our roles are to administer, facilitate and participate fully in the list discussions. This is an unmoderated list.

To join Lunatrix-L you may be:

• A psychiatrised woman who has had personal experience of the mental health system and resonates with our Manifesto;
• A psychiatrised woman who resonates with our Manifesto and works within grass-roots organizations such as shelters, rape crisis, addictions, psychiatric-survivor centres, for example;
• A psychiatrised woman who resonates with our Manifesto but who has not been “caught”. By this we mean a woman who has received psychiatric label/s from family members, partners, employers, religious organizations or others but who has not personally been in the system.

We will not, however, accept subscriptions from:
• Women working within the mental health system who are not, themselves, psychiatrised women;
• Academics, students, or policy makers wishing to study us.

Should you feel that you would like to explore feminist alternatives to the conventional mental health, please send an introduction to Sasha McInnes at ssasha@worldchat.com.

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Vanessa and Sasha

...from the LUNATRIX MANIFESTO....

"Since Lunas value life, we publicly oppose the use of violence, in the form of psychiatric incarceration and forced treatment, against any being. And because we want to see an end to the unnecessary suffering of all of our sisters, as well as an end to their psychiatric oppression, Lunas search for alternative models for helping women in distress, based on compassion, respect and true freedom of choice."

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