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DARE TO IMAGINE From Lunatics to Citizens Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication LeBlanc, Eugène, 1964- Dare to imagine: from lunatics to citizens / Eugène LeBlanc and Nérée St-Amand. Issued also in French under title: Osons imaginer. French ed. has authors in reverse order. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-9809315-0-1 1. Mental health--New Brunswick--History. 2. Mentally ill--Care--New Brunswick--History. 3. Mental health services--New Brunswick--History. 4. Psychiatry--New Brunswick--History. I. St-Amand, Nérée, 1945- II. Title. RA790.7.C3S3413 2008 362.209715'109 C2008-901746-3 Copyright © 2008 Our Voice/Notre Voix All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including informa- tion storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the editor except for a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. The opinions presented in this book are those of the authors and do not represent the views of any persons or organizations that have contributed, financially or otherwise, to the production of this text. Cover graphics: Serge Richard Published by: Stellar Communications Editor: Our Voice/Notre Voix PO Box 29004, Moncton, (NB) E1G 4R3 Fax: (506) 854-5532; Email: [email protected] Website: www.ourvoice-notrevoix.com A French version of this book is also available from the editor: Osons imaginer : de la folie à la fierté. More information may be obtained at: www.imaginenb.net This may emphatically be called The Book of the Poor, as I who write it am poor. Poor in purse, but rich in the possession of sympathy for my fellow being, rich in the possession of courage sufficient to tell the truth, when by it a public good is accomplished, even though by it I have endangered my life, and may get the reputation of interfering with a business not my own. Mary Huestis Pengilly, incarcerated in the 19th century, Provincial Lunatic Asylum, Saint John WE DEDICATE THIS BOOK To those who suffered in silence behind the walls of the asylum, in New Brunswick and elsewhere. To the lives lost, emptied of meaning and to those who are offering to the present and future generations a few echoes of hope. To Stephen Inness, Mary Huestis Pengilly, Wendy Tupper, Aunt Irma, and to the thousands of others who, through their sufferings and even at the cost of their lives, remind us that in the history of our civilization, the asylum was nothing more than a laboratory for control and oppression and was psychiatric in name only. To the memory of Shawn Poissonnier who believed: That mental illness is not who you are as a person; That we need to help people who dissent from mainstream psychiatry; That the consumer/survivors’ movement should be independent from the social network to which psychiatry belongs. May their time on earth not have been in vain; May their messages support our struggles; May their words kindle the hearts of those who continue to treat the psychiatrized as if they were social scum and citizens without rights. Foreword In mid January 2005, twenty-four mental health consumer/ survivor leaders from across Canada, and one sympathetic researcher and community ally, came together in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Their mission was to build up a strong coalition that would work to sustain the capacity of our nation’s consumer movement. During that notable meeting, much discussion dealt with the history of the consumer movement in Canada, and the need to document our community’s past in order to learn from it, as we position ourselves for the future. It was then that Eugène LeBlanc and Nérée St-Amand proposed their plan to benefit our grass-roots movement and potentially the lives of all Canadians. This was the ground-breaking moment where the history of the mental health system and its impact on consumers was going to be sought out, documented and disseminated in book format. Since then, leaders from across the country have been updated on new findings by Eugène and Nérée. Excitement has been building about many documents supporting this historical viewpoint of our community. Personal accounts of dishearte- ning treatment suffered by our folks throughout the centuries were also found. At times, they were treated like animals! Although such mistreatment, among others, are well known by consumers throughout Canada and around the world, very little research to support this stance has ever been published and put into the public domain, until now. As I flipped through its pages, the horror and pain that I have repeatedly seen in the eyes of many of my peers came to life. I came to better understand the desperation and terror suffered by many of those who have lived with little or no hope, and who have been muted and segregated from society. It makes me shudder to think that the Canada I am so proud to be a citizen of is the same country that has destroyed so many. Oftentimes, this tearing down of the soul comes from people who have turned a blind eye at those of us suffering from a mental illness. Disappointment with the present system, its lack of services, support and reliance on the biomedical model are mused over to a great extent. The government’s reluctance to appropriately support the needs of many living with a diagnosed mental illness until recent times is appalling and well documented. Overall, it is my opinion that this is a must read book for everyone who needs to be educated in both the health and social service sectors; for they too must learn from the past in order to create better systems and supports for those they serve. With gratitude for the research and with appreciation of the content, I applaud both Eugène and Nérée for this excellent piece of work. With every page turned, their words bring emotion to life; enlightening us on the experiences of what people went through before us and making us ponder on what the future could hold. Congratulations to you both for a first- class job! Constance McKnight, CAE National Executive Director National Network for Mental Health Introduction Why This Other Story? Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with it, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty. Francisco José Goya Y Luciente When the inspiration of writing a book about the history of mental health activism in New Brunswick came to me at a meeting of the Canadian Coalition of Alternative Mental Health Resources in Niagara Falls, in January 2005, never did I think the research would lead, we the authors, in the direction and offer the conclusions which it did. As poet Janet Frame puts it: Writing (…) is not merely going on a shopping expedition across the border...it is hours and years spent in the factories, the streets and the cathedrals of the imagination. I find this statement to be very true because thousands of hours were spent traveling back 185 years in history. Learning about how people with a mental illness lived and the remedies applied to them made me shiver. Our research was originally guided by an intent to document the history of individuals who experienced first-hand the trauma of undergoing psychiatric treatment, however, our initial research led us to extend and transform our work to examine why a consumer/survivors movement developed in the first place and what the future implications are for the entire field of mental health now that such a movement exists. To rationally explicate the now, we needed to understand the past. As one member of our activity centre said to me, “You are 10 DARE TO IMAGINE From Lunatics to Citizens telling the whole story for the first time.” Since historians seem to recount the history of mental health and institutions from a professional or managerial point of view, we, the consumer-survivors, embrace the notion that this book is groundbreaking in its field because it constitutes a first hand account of what was reality then, what it is today and what it might be tomorrow. Furthermore, we believe that we were able to weave a tapestry of events into a continuing story so that we can better understand our current situation. I would like to thank my co-author, Nérée St-Amand, for his interest and his wholehearted dedication to this project. Nérée has exemplified the true meaning of what professional support in client-run initiatives should be and what it ought not to be. I wish more individuals and community groups could follow his example. I also want to acknowledge Annette Després who has been a friend and a loyal supporter of our work throughout the years; her faith in my abilities will never be forgotten. I also wish to acknowledge New Brunswick’s Assistant Deputy Minister for Mental Health Services, Ken Ross, for his appreciation of the consumer/survivors’ move- ment in our province and across Canada. A special appreciation to those without whom this book would not have seen the light of the day; we wish to emphasize the volunteer contributions of: Colin Donegani, Yves Duchesneau, Greg Golden, Gail Hutchin, David Jory, Constance McKnight, Diana Ralph, Gaétan St-Amand for their revisions and to Jeannine Turpin for typesetting both languages. A few special words to all members who have come through the doors of our activity centre since 1987, the Groupe de support émotionnel Inc. of the greater Moncton area. Your wealth of experiential viewpoints has been a great source of inspiration and support to me in the last 20 years.

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