Mad Pride Hamilton has zines on the brain

Michael Gallagher
The Silhouette

Mental health has been a very personal issue for me for a while. Having lost my cousin to suicide in 2010, the importance of recognizing symptoms, accessing help and support, and finding treatment can quite literally be the difference in saving someone’s life. While awareness has grown, there is still much change to be made going forward.

Mad Pride Hamilton is looking to be a part of that change. The organization was formed by self-identifying “mad” people (as in madness). The group wants to create a community for those with mental health disabilities that will decrease isolation, and increase support.

Having finished their first open mic event in July, their next project, a self-made zine containing art, poetry, and personal stories, looks to explore the creativity of those involved even further. “We have lots of artistic people in our community that don’t have a place to show our work, and this was a place to do that,” said Alise, one of the organizers of the project.

The choice to use a zine itself was very fitting, as self-published zines have a long history of combating social justice issues, such as those created by punks during the 70s, and they became even more prominent during the Riot Grrrl movement of the 90s.

To Mad Pride Hamilton, the zine is more than just a medium with a political history however. Alise spoke about the challenges in accessibility that often comes with digital media. She explained, “Most of our community isn’t digital, and hasn’t gone digital because of poverty, or maybe because they were institutionalized for a long time, or didn’t grow up with the kind of education we had…some simply might not have developed the skills to use the technology, the way a lot of students at McMaster have and because of that, in order to reach all areas of our community there needs to be print versions available.”

These kinds of accessibility issues raise questions about the efficiency of McMaster’s own mental health services. When I asked about their thoughts on student wellness, one of their biggest concerns was financial: “I think they are trying really hard with the resources they have from who I’ve talked to. A lot of it comes down to no money,” said Andrew. “There are counsellors you can see, and a lot of them are really great…they offer group therapies and a ton of great stuff, but at the end of the day my next appointment with my counsellor is 4 weeks from now and that is long. I’m on a CBT waiting list and right now I’m being told to wait 5 months minimum. Those kinds of issues come from lack of funds and staff.”

Money aside, one of the greatest issues they believe is choice of language. The organization’s decision to reclaim words like “mad” and “crazy” reflects a greater political agenda. “People have been doing this for hundreds of years, taking words and making them mean different things,” said Alise. “Similar to the LGBTQ communities who have been reclaiming queer and other kinds of words, our community has been reclaiming words as a kind of political statement.”

More importantly, Alise believes the term “stigma” is detrimental. She said, “I think we need to change the language we are using. I think when people talk about stigma they often don’t actually know what they are talking about and they talk very vaguely,” said Alise. “It’s not just stigma, it’s discrimination. When we talk about discrimination on other grounds, like discrimination related to sex, sexuality, gender, race, we talk about it as discrimination, so why are we talking about it as stigma in terms of mental health? I think that is because people don’t think it actually is discrimination, and it is. It’s not just about healthcare, or individual conversations with people, it impacts people’s lives in all areas, limiting what options are available to you.”

It is these kinds of questions the Mad Pride Hamilton zine challenges and explores. The group hopes to release another issue in April and is open to anyone, regardless of their history.

Photo from the "This Insane Life" (Mad Pride Hamilton zine)