Location: every Sunday Community Arts and Media Project (Cherokee@Minnesota) seven pm.
email: saintlouis(at)theicarusproject(dot)net for questions, directions, or requests to change space/time of meetings

Interested in radical mental health? Feeling lost, alone, unsupported or crazy in a crazy world? Feeling like you have something to give or something you need? Come join with us as we visualize an Icarus Project-esque mutual aid group here in Saint Louis.

(Also, we like snacks. Bring snacks.)

We are still in the birthing stages of this group, so please bring your visions, dreams, and desires for what you would like to see in Saint Louis around radical mental health work.

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The following are the national guidelines of the Icarus Project, offered as a jumping off point, not as a set of rules-in-stone.
http://theicarusproject.net/

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 privilege, 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.