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Nov 08
2010
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The Icarus ProjectPosted by Bruce Robinson in speaker , Science , rights , research , medicine , media , lifestyle , Ideas , healthcare , Health , drugs , disability , current events , chemicals , author , art , activism |
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The Icarus Project has become an outspoken advocacy organization for the idea of "radical mental health. Co-founder Jacks McNamara explains how they define that concept.
Radical mental health asks if being "different" is something that requires treatment, or can sometimes be recognized as just a different way of being. need not be seen or treated as a mental illness, argues Artist and poet Jacks McNamara argues that her bi-polar disorder should be seen as a "dangerous gift," something to cherish and to be wary of.
The art and poetry of Jacks McNamara, as well as her personal history as told in her own words, forms the subject matter for the short film, Crooked Beauty, by Ken Rosenthal. Here is a trailer for the film.
Now that the Icarus Project is eight years old, and well established across the country and beyond, McNamara says she is now turning more of her energies toward nurturing a new class of leaders and advocates to take the organization on to its next level.
No one has a better first-hand view of the problems with this country’s health care system than the doctors who work in it, a vantage point that has made some of them “mad as hell” about it.
As a strong advocate for a single payer health care system, Dr. Paul Hochfeld had hopes that the federal health care reform debate this year would lead to some major improvements. When the final bill was passed, however, he was deeply disappointed.
From his position inside the current system, Dr. Hochfeld recognizes the power of the fiscal incentives to provide maximized, specialized care during the final few weeks or days of a patient's life. Yet he argues, it is widely acknowledged that this approach is both highly expensive, and often contrary to the comfort and well-being of the patient.
You can find out more about Dr. Hochfeld and his film at his 
Different cultures deal with mental illness quite differently, which poses a significant challenge to mental health service providers in an area such as Sonoma County, with extensive multicultural subpopulations.
One of the challenges in tailoring mental heath services to meet the needs of a particular cultural group, says Rosemary Milbrath, Director of the Sonoma County chapter of the National Association on Mental Illness, is first defining exactly who that population is.
One of the goals of mental health service providers, Milbrath adds, is developing early intervention measures to anticipate and counter some of the stresses that may cause problems later in life. She lauds the Redwood Empire Chinese Association for their proactive prorams in that area.
Mary Szecsey, Executive Director of the five West County Health Centers, explains that the local clinics, and many of their counterparts across the county, have helped pioneer and refine the concept known as a “medical home” for patients.
This approach, developed in considerable part out of necessity, has proven to be both efficacious and cost-effective, Szecsey adds, which is why it is being more widely adopted.
