Icarus Project

The Icarus Project is a grassroots network comprised of a National Organizing Collective, autonomous local groups and individuals that are "living with experiences that are commonly labeled as bipolar disorder or related mental illness." It is a radical mental health movement that advocates that these experiences should be viewed as "dangerous gifts to be cultivated and taken care of, rather than a disease or disorder to be suppressed or eliminated," promotes art and creativity as intrinsic to these experiences, envisions radical political change in society as a whole, and includes alternate ways of treatment and care beyond the medical model. 

The name is derived from the Icarus mythology and uses it as a metaphor that these experiences can lead to "potential[ly] flying dangerously close to the sun." It is currently under the fiscal sponsorship of FJC, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization based in New York City. 

History
In 2002, Sascha Altman DuBrul wrote an article published by the San Francisco Bay Guardian entitled Bipolar World, relating to his personal experiences being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Among the dozens of e-mails and other correspondence that he received after this publication was a letter from Ashley McNamara wanting to collaborate on a radical mental health project with him.  "I read his article, and resonated with it so much that I ended up sending him my entire life story," DuBrul and McNamara corresponded for a few weeks before finally meeting in person. "We ended up talking till four in the morning and we woke up the next day and started the Icarus Project." The first step, they decided, was creating a website where people who identified with "bipolar and other "mental illness" [could] find real community and contribut[e] to it."

Mission
The Icarus Project aims to "create a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of 'mental illness'" instead of being restricted to the traditional clinical model of mental health care. They also believe that the essence of this creation is the ability to network with similar people "and overcome alienation and tap into the true potential that lies between brillance and madness." The national Icarus Collective staff is set up to support local groups by "facilitating a website community, distributing publications, educating the public, offering tools, sharing skills, creating art, engaging in advocacy, enhancing community capacities, offering technical assistance, providing inspiration and solidarity, and taking care of national housekeeping tasks." The responsibilities of the local group are to gather people locally for support, education, activism, and access to alternatives. 

The Icarus Project is not a consumer/survivor orgnization, although there are participants that identify as such, but is opposed to psychiatric abuse. Key principles are harm reduction, alternatives to the medical model and self-determination in treatment and diagnosis. The Icarus Project does not accept funding from pharmaceutical companies unlike other mental health advocacy groups such as National Alliance on Mental Illness accepting unrestricted donations from Eli Lilly. 

The Icarus Project network
Although the Icarus Project has participants from all over the world, the autonomous local groups are currently only located in the United States. As of December 2006, there are local groups in the following cities:


 * Asheville, North Carolina
 * Chicago, Illinois
 * Minneapolis, Minnesota
 * New York City, New York
 * Northhampton, Massachusetts (Freedom Center)
 * Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 * Portland, Oregon
 * San Francisco (Bay Area), California

Core principles and concepts
The national Icarus Project collective states the following in its National and Local Group Handbook:

Beyond the medical model. While we respect whatever treatment decisions people make, we do not define ourselves as essentially diseased, disordered, broken, faulty, and existing within the bounds of DSM-IV diagnosis. We are exploring unknown territory and don't steer by the default maps outlined by docs and pharma companies. We're making new maps.

"Non judgmental and respecting diversity. We welcome people who take psych drugs and people who do not, as well as people who use diagnostic labels like 'bipolar' to describe themselves and people who do not identify with these terms. We do not exclude people on the basis of politics, lifestyle choice, recreational drug use, 'criminal' behavior, or other outsider identities. We all have a lot to learn from each other, so we respect each others' choices. While the current social system and medical model have the tendency to divide us, we want our experiences of madness – as we understand them – to unite us."

"We educate ourselves about alternatives. A lot of what the media, medical establishment, and institutions tell us about 'mental illness,' psych drugs, and how we have to live our lives is just not true. We educate ourselves and each other. We question what we hear on TV and read in doctor's office brochures. We explore holistic and spiritual approaches to handling our extreme states of consciousness. We learn as much as we can about any medical treatments we are using, and encourage each other to make informed choices. Icarus is a sanctuary for people thinking outside the mainstream and creating their own definitions of health."

"Non hierarchy / anti-oppression. Local groups needs to be anti-authoritarian, inclusive, and working against racism/classism/sexism/homophobia and other oppressions. We're a radical mental health support network; affiliated groups must be willing to create safe and challenging spaces where oppressive behavior is not tolerated."

"Balancing wellness and action. Even if your group is 100% about activism and not interested in a support group, you've got to take care of yourselves! Doing so will prevent burnout – and you'll end up doing better work in the long run. Icarus is a place to support each other in practicing real self-care: making sure we don't neglect our personal basics like food, rest, exercise, and community; encouraging each other to commit to the amount of work we can actually do, and not pushing ourselves past our limits; challenging ourselves to find daily routines and projects that help us live out our dreams and have enough structure to get by."

"Access. We don't need more alternatives that only rich people can afford. All Icarus gatherings should follow the policy that 'no one is turned away for lack of funds.' The occasional fundraising concert with a set ticket price is ok, but organizing costly events too frequently turns people away."

"Nonviolence. We believe that we will bring about lasting change in the world through dialogue, compassionate listening, mutual aid, and grassroots networks of support, which may in time form a viable alternative to the current system of government, bureaucracy, and corporate culture.  We do not endorse violence at any level of our organizing efforts however, we recognize that a stance on non-violence comes from a perspective of privelege, namely white privilege.  We do not condemn or condone property damage in the context of direct action, though some would consider property destruction 'violent.' We do not."

Transparency. We do not endorse secrets or covert hierarchies within Icarus. We believe in public access to information about how we are making decisions, spending money, distributing responsibility, and otherwise delegating the work of organizing together.

Publications
Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness; A Reader and Roadmap of Bipolar Worlds, was self-published by the Icarus Project in March of 2004. The book is currently in its 5th printing. 

In July, 2006, The Icarus Project released the first draft of Friends Make the Best Medicine: A Guide to Creating Community Mental Health Support Networks.