About US

The Bay Area Radical Mental Health Collective is a grassroots group of political activists, who see an urgent need for addressing emotional and mental crises in the radical left community. Activists are particularly vulnerable to trauma at the hands of the state, which too frequently leads to individual burn-out and fragmentation of the community. We are committed to helping empower people to negotiate the sustainability of their activism, and encouraging mutual and community-based support, grounded in compassionate solidarity, rather than paternalistic intervention. Our goal is to open discussion about alternatives to the current “mental health” system, to provide resources, and to inspire dialogue about unconventional states of consciousness and psychological wellbeing. Many of us have been or are “clients” of the “mental health” system, some more willingly than others, and in that context some of us have been “diagnosed” with psychiatric labels. As a collective we hold different opinions about the validity of those diagnoses, and about the diversity of our states of minds, but we are firmly united in the belief that the system that claims to care for people labeled “mentally ill” is in need of revolutionary change.

Ongoing Weekly events:
Monday Night Support Group
at the Berkeley Free Clinic
2339 Durant Ave in Berkeley
Mondays 6:30-8:30

Join Our Mailing Lists:
radicalmentalhealth@lists.riseup.net
madpride@lists.riseup.net