ABSTRACT
The complexity of the consumer/survivor/ex-patient movement has made it a complicated topic for study. What seems simple on the surface (“oh, that anti-psychiatry movement” or “oh, that cult” or “oh, the consumer movement”) reveals several layers of tension and contradictory positions. One of my earliest experiences in the field was in a conference group where radical ex-patients came together to share their experiences, and two participants revealed that they were taking medications. They were derided and discredited by the more radical participants in a way that reminded me of African-Americans being called Oreos or Jim Crow by their peers.
