Judi Chamberlin
Encyclopedia
Judi Chamberlin was an American activist, leader, organizer, public speaker and educator in the psychiatric survivors movement
. Her political activism followed her involuntary confinement in a psychiatric facility in the 1960s. She was the author of On Our Own: Patient-Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System, which is a foundational text in the Mad Pride
movement.
As an involuntary patient she witnessed and experienced a range of abuses. Seclusion rooms and refractory wards were used for resistive patients, even when their forms of resistance were non-violent. The psychiatric medication she was given made her feel tired and affected her memory. As an involuntary patient she was unable to leave the facility and became, she said, "a prisoner of the system". The derogation of her civil liberties that she experienced as an inmate provided the impetus for her activism as a member of the psychiatric survivor movemment.
. Her affiliation with this center facilitated her role in co-founding the Ruby Rogers Advocacy and Drop-in-Centers, which are self-help institutions staffed by former psychiatric patients. and was also a founder and later a Director of Education of the National Empowerment Center
. The latter is also an ex-patient run organization that provides information, technical assistance, and support to users and survivors of the psychiatric system. Its mission statement declares its intent is to "carry a message of recovery, empowerment, hope and healing to people who have been labeled with mental illness".
She was also involved with the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy and she was an influential leader in the Mad Pride movement. Having first met the current chief executive of MindFreedom International
, David Oaks, in 1976 when they were both members of the Mental Patients Liberation Front, she later became a board member of MindFreedom International, which describes itself as an umbrella organization for approximately one hundred grass roots groups campaigning for the human rights of people deemed to be mentally ill.
In 1978 her book On Our Own: Patient Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System was published.
She was a major informant for and assisted in the drafting of the National Council on Disability
's federal report From Privileges to Rights, which was published in 2000. The report argued that psychiatric patients should enjoy the same basic human rights as other citizens and that patient privileges contingent on good behavior within the psychiatric system, such as the ability to wear their own clothes, leave the confines of psychiatric facility, or receive visitors, should instead be regarded as basic rights.
Chamberlin was elected as co-chair of the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry
(WNUSP) at the launching conference and General Assembly in Vancouver
, Canada
in 2001, and served in this capacity until the next General Assembly in 2004. During this period she also served on the Panel of Experts advising the United Nations
special rapporteur on disability
, on behalf of WNUSP in its role as a Non-governmental organization
, representing psychiatric survivors.
, also a psychiatric survivor movement activist, whom she met at the Mental Patients Liberation Project in 1971. They married in 1972 and separated two years later. They remained close friends following this and only divorced in 1985 when Chabasinski wanted to marry his second wife. Since 2006 her partner was Marty Federman. She had one daughter, Julie Chamberlin, and three grandchildren.
Psychiatric survivors movement
The psychiatric survivors movement is a diverse association of individuals who are either currently clients of mental health services , or who consider themselves survivors of interventions by psychiatry, or who identify themselves as ex-patients of mental health services...
. Her political activism followed her involuntary confinement in a psychiatric facility in the 1960s. She was the author of On Our Own: Patient-Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System, which is a foundational text in the Mad Pride
Mad Pride
Mad Pride is a mass movement of mental health services users and their allies. The first known event specifically organized as a Pride event by people who identify as psychiatric survivors/consumer/ex-patients was in Toronto, Canada when it was called "Psychiatric Survivor Pride Day", held on...
movement.
Early life
Judi Chamberlin was born Judi Ross in Brooklyn in 1944. She was the only daughter of Harold and Shirley Jaffe Ross. Her father worked as an executive in the advertising industry while her mother was employed as a school administrator.Psychiatric experience
In 1966, at the age of twenty-one and recently married, Chamberlin suffered a miscarriage and, according to her own account, became severely depressed. Following psychiatric advice, she voluntarily signed herself into a psychiatric facility as an in-patient. However, after several voluntary admissions she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward in a New York state hospital for a period of five months.As an involuntary patient she witnessed and experienced a range of abuses. Seclusion rooms and refractory wards were used for resistive patients, even when their forms of resistance were non-violent. The psychiatric medication she was given made her feel tired and affected her memory. As an involuntary patient she was unable to leave the facility and became, she said, "a prisoner of the system". The derogation of her civil liberties that she experienced as an inmate provided the impetus for her activism as a member of the psychiatric survivor movemment.
Activism
Following her discharge, Chamberlin became involved in the nascent psychiatric patients' rights movement. In 1971 she joined the Boston based Mental Patients Liberation Front (MPLF), and she also became associated with the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston UniversityBoston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. Her affiliation with this center facilitated her role in co-founding the Ruby Rogers Advocacy and Drop-in-Centers, which are self-help institutions staffed by former psychiatric patients. and was also a founder and later a Director of Education of the National Empowerment Center
National Empowerment Center
The National Empowerment Center is an advocacy and peer-support organization in the United States that promotes an empowerment-based recovery model of mental disorder. It is run by consumers/survivors/ex-patients in recovery....
. The latter is also an ex-patient run organization that provides information, technical assistance, and support to users and survivors of the psychiatric system. Its mission statement declares its intent is to "carry a message of recovery, empowerment, hope and healing to people who have been labeled with mental illness".
She was also involved with the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy and she was an influential leader in the Mad Pride movement. Having first met the current chief executive of MindFreedom International
MindFreedom International
MindFreedom International is an international coalition of over one hundred grassroots groups and thousands of individual members from fourteen nations. It was founded in 1990 to advocate against forced medication, medical restraints, and involuntary electroconvulsive therapy. Its stated mission is...
, David Oaks, in 1976 when they were both members of the Mental Patients Liberation Front, she later became a board member of MindFreedom International, which describes itself as an umbrella organization for approximately one hundred grass roots groups campaigning for the human rights of people deemed to be mentally ill.
In 1978 her book On Our Own: Patient Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System was published.
She was a major informant for and assisted in the drafting of the National Council on Disability
National Council on Disability
The National Council on Disability was initially established in 1978 as an advisory board within the United States Department of Education to guarantee equal opportunity for people with disabilities. NCD is composed of 15 members, appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by...
's federal report From Privileges to Rights, which was published in 2000. The report argued that psychiatric patients should enjoy the same basic human rights as other citizens and that patient privileges contingent on good behavior within the psychiatric system, such as the ability to wear their own clothes, leave the confines of psychiatric facility, or receive visitors, should instead be regarded as basic rights.
Chamberlin was elected as co-chair of the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry
World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry
The World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry is an international organisation representing, and led by "survivors of psychiatry". As of 2003, over 70 national organizations were members of WNUSP, based in 30 countries...
(WNUSP) at the launching conference and General Assembly in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 2001, and served in this capacity until the next General Assembly in 2004. During this period she also served on the Panel of Experts advising the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
special rapporteur on disability
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
, on behalf of WNUSP in its role as a Non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
, representing psychiatric survivors.
Personal life
Her marriages to Howard Cahn and then Robert Chamberlin both ended in divorce. Her third marriage in 1972 was to Ted ChabasinskiTed Chabasinski
Ted Chabasinski is an American psychiatric survivor, human rights activist and attorney who lives in Berkeley, California. At the age of six he was taken from his foster family's home and committed to a New York psychiatric facility...
, also a psychiatric survivor movement activist, whom she met at the Mental Patients Liberation Project in 1971. They married in 1972 and separated two years later. They remained close friends following this and only divorced in 1985 when Chabasinski wanted to marry his second wife. Since 2006 her partner was Marty Federman. She had one daughter, Julie Chamberlin, and three grandchildren.
Death
Chamberlin died of pulmonary disease at her home in Arlington, Massachusetts on January 16, 2010.Published works
- Chamberlin, Judi (1978).On Our Own: Patient Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System
- Chamberlin, Judi (1990). 'The Ex-Patients Movement: where we've been and where we're going'. The Journal of Mind and Behaviour. 11(3&4): 323-336.
- Chamberlin, Judi (1993). 'Erfahrungen und Zielsetzungen der nordamerikanischen Selbsthilfebewegung' (pp. 300-17). In: Kerstin Kempker / Peter Lehmann (Eds.), Statt Psychiatrie. Berlin: Antipsychiatrieverlag.
- Chamberlin, Judi (1995). 'Mental health: choice and dignity'. The Magazine of the World Health Organization. 48(5): 16-17.
- Chamberlin, Judi, Roger, E. Sally, and Ellison, Marsha Langer (1996). 'Self-help programs: a description of their characteristics and their members'. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. 19(3): 33-4.
- Chamberlin, Judi (1997). 'A working definition of empowerment'. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. 20(4): 43-6.
- Rogers, E. S., Chamberlin, J., et al. (1997). 'A consumer-constructed scale to measure empowerment among users of mental health services'. Psychiatric Services. 48(8): 1042-47.
- Chamberlin, Judi (1998). 'Confessions of a noncompliant patient'. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services. 36(4): 49-52.
- Chamberlin, Judi (1998). 'Citizens rights and psychiatric disability'. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. 21: 405-08.
Awards
- 1992: Distinguished Service Award of the President of the United States, National Council on Disability
- 1992: David J. Vail National Advocacy Award, Mental Health Association of Minnesota
- 1995: N. Neal Pike Prize for Services to People with Disabilities, Boston University School of LawBoston University School of LawBoston University School of Law is the law school affiliated with Boston University, and is ranked #22 among American law schools by US News and World Report magazine. It is the second-oldest law school in Massachusetts and one of the first law schools in the country to admit students regardless...
See also
- MindFreedom InternationalMindFreedom InternationalMindFreedom International is an international coalition of over one hundred grassroots groups and thousands of individual members from fourteen nations. It was founded in 1990 to advocate against forced medication, medical restraints, and involuntary electroconvulsive therapy. Its stated mission is...
- Psychiatric survivors movementPsychiatric survivors movementThe psychiatric survivors movement is a diverse association of individuals who are either currently clients of mental health services , or who consider themselves survivors of interventions by psychiatry, or who identify themselves as ex-patients of mental health services...
- World Network of Users and Survivors of PsychiatryWorld Network of Users and Survivors of PsychiatryThe World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry is an international organisation representing, and led by "survivors of psychiatry". As of 2003, over 70 national organizations were members of WNUSP, based in 30 countries...
- National Council on DisabilityNational Council on DisabilityThe National Council on Disability was initially established in 1978 as an advisory board within the United States Department of Education to guarantee equal opportunity for people with disabilities. NCD is composed of 15 members, appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by...
- National Empowerment CenterNational Empowerment CenterThe National Empowerment Center is an advocacy and peer-support organization in the United States that promotes an empowerment-based recovery model of mental disorder. It is run by consumers/survivors/ex-patients in recovery....
- Anti-psychiatryAnti-psychiatryAnti-psychiatry is a configuration of groups and theoretical constructs that emerged in the 1960s, and questioned the fundamental assumptions and practices of psychiatry, such as its claim that it achieves universal, scientific objectivity. Its igniting influences were Michel Foucault, R.D. Laing,...
- Psychiatric survivors movementPsychiatric survivors movementThe psychiatric survivors movement is a diverse association of individuals who are either currently clients of mental health services , or who consider themselves survivors of interventions by psychiatry, or who identify themselves as ex-patients of mental health services...
- Involuntary commitmentInvoluntary commitmentInvoluntary commitment or civil commitment is a legal process through which an individual with symptoms of severe mental illness is court-ordered into treatment in a hospital or in the community ....
- Biopsychiatry controversyBiopsychiatry controversyThe biopsychiatry controversy is a dispute over which viewpoint should predominate and form the scientific basis of psychiatric theory and practice. The debate is a criticism of a claimed strict biological view of psychiatric thinking. Its critics including disparate groups such as the...
- Involuntary treatmentInvoluntary treatmentInvoluntary treatment refers to medical treatment undertaken without a person's consent. In almost all circumstances, involuntary treatment refers to psychiatric treatment administered despite an individual's objections...