The Queen Street Patients Council

You want to know more about the Patients Council at Queen Street? Psycho Magazine is made to let you know what is happening and to let you speak your mind. You can drop off a piece of writing or a drawing to our office mailbox at any time. That's at Room 2055.

The Patients Council has been working hard to get things changed around here. We had a conference in the cafeteria on February 5, 1994 and a lot of patients and survivors came. Together, we talked about what the Patients Council has to do. It was decided that the main goal of the Patients Council was to protect the rights of the patients at Queen Street through advocacy. And that's what we will be doing a lot more of. The Patients Council is unique because it is run for (and by) patients and ex-patients. Everybody on the Council, as well as the staff, have been psychiatric patients. That gives us an inside understanding and makes it easier for us to work with advocacy issues, patients and ex-patients rights, and our growing survivor community.

You can drop by our office anytime, or give us a call (and leave a message) at 535 8501, extention 2018. We have a library with information on all sorts of needs: Housing, Drop-ins, Shelters, Education, Employment, Resources, Medication, Rights, Proceedures, etc. The staff is friendly and working hard to work with you on various concerns. If you feel that you have not been treated with respect or if your rights have been violated, we will be happy to talk to you. There is a lot we can do together.

The new board members of the Patients Council are:

S. M. (chair)
H. K. (vice-chair)
J. M. (treasurer)
A. S. (secretary)
T. B.
K. W.
M. H.
J. S.
H. W.
R. P.
B. L.
and C. R.

Less Haldol On the Market ('Allan')

Haldol is a tranquilizer. But long-term use is no good for you. You could end up with a war going on inside your head. It makes nerves worse. With some people it does the opposite-- it agrees with them. But I know from experience what it's like. In sensitive areas of the brain (and there are a number) it goes opposite of what the person is thinking. Most hospitals have used it. It makes you very edgy, not catatonic, very short-tempered; your sleeping patterns are disturbed after a year of use. The dosage is very important-- for only short term use.

Poem (Anonymous)

I stand in my yellow nook
I go by the big thick book
I sometimes have to ad lib
I'll even provide a bib
I tell you what to do
even though you have the flu
I stand sometimes very tall
but you never see me in the hall
I give a different colored pill
even though you don't feel ill
please don't ask me my name
because I love to play the game.
WHO AM EYE?

Keeping Things Simple (R. Y. T.)

I had a nervous breakdown in 1982 while I was going to the Devry Institute. I studied too hard and my mind was rocking. I tried to follow christianity but my prayers were in vain. I've learned not to dwell on fantastic ideas. Something was missing in my life. I had no faith and I wouldn't pray. The medication I took for the next 10 years was turning me into a vegetable . I got rid of that medication and alcohol so that I could get in touch with my inner self. I started praying with my tobacco everyday and found that trying to be somebody I was not would lead me down the garden path of fantasy. Today I know that I am ANISHNABE and should follow tobacco road because that is my reality. I stay off the beaten track of mainstream society because that is the white man's road. Today I keep it simple because common sense is the only way for me. What I eat, think and do should make sense, otherwise it's insanity.

Central Admitting (H. J. A.)

Central Admitting: not a bad place on certain days and nights. This is a Tuesday, 4:30, and where is the doctor? Place is cold. The air conditioning is not working. And again where is the doctor? It's 4:30. Big surprise. I love to come in here for 24-hour rests. But I hear it costs $1500 or more a day. Tired, but I couldn't sleep for very long. Doctor asked me where I live. So I told him where I live. That means a couple of minutes of talk and I'll be on my way again (with no cigarettes). My friend (Don) says that I'll get cigarettes when I'm admitted. I have a place to live-- I don't know why I'm being admitted. Somebody says I pulled a fire alarm at 2:30 am.

Message to Mom ('Jeff')

I love you mom. I owe my mother $60 and I can't pay her. I can't get the money. My worker will not give it to me. My bloody worker's stingy.

About Today (I. E.)

When I went out this morning,
I reflected on man's humanity
In regards to the entire solar system
Which may or may not explore
On it's own
The entire length of the
Hollow Known as the universe
Sometimes I feel like the only part of it I am is a piece
Of dust of the source-of-All
Which is part of the Self-Actualizer
Be that as it may, I will still not
Cease to pray
That I has a spot
To say nothing about Today.

War Cometh (Anonymous)

The awful war cometh to North America, New York and Chicago. You complete the essay: 2001, 2010, or 2020. Just remember New Jersey survives because the area is the Great Port Authority and a railway access point from Quebec.

Wishes (M. R. S.)

My wish for all people in the world is to stop fighting and stop the bloodshed and cease all animosity. Specifically to Afghani leaders and Mugahan deen people-- Please stop shedding blood for nothing because this is not good for the country, the economy, and for the new generation. They will suffer from the country's devastation.

The Big American Car (A. M.)

Glitter, glitter monstrous car,
I don't wonder what you are.
Your the chromium and the essence,
tiny inbuilt obsolescence.
Your a thing of bits and patches,
Yet alone that one thing matches.
The fate oft' and told, alas, no more
of giant extinct dinosaur,
His brain grew small, his body big
He couldn't park, he couldn't twig.
His wits unable to exploit,
They're now most treasured in Detroit.

Life (Anonymous)

What is Life
I sometimes wonder
All the secrets
We take time to ponder
In all the mysteries
That take place
Through all our years
In the human race
Highest mountains
Rivers long
We sometimes wonder
Where we belong
Oceans blue
And sky the same
It cannot be
Just a game
Ancient times
Medieval days
Our true beliefs
In all life's ways
All life's mysteries
Will be revealed
Just take time out
To reach out and feel.

Letter to the Editors (C. M.)

Psycho Magazine should:

1 Base some of its issues on the ideas surrounding the children's hopes and dreams, such as their important shows on television. Also the shows they get around town.

2. Give a monthly report on the drop-in centres around Toronto for people with psychiatric problems to go to because we often don't have much money.

3. Publish short poems and ideas by patients and out-patients should be considered.

1994, April, Introductory Isssue
1994, August, "Restraints and Isolation"

1995, May, "Victory in Court"
1995, September, "Housing"

1996, January, "Alternatives to Psychiatry"
1996, May, "Does Mental Illness Exist"
1996, September, "Friends and Family"

1997, January, "Beliefs"
1997, November, "Speaking Out"

2001, March, "Those Who Have Died"

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