We Are the Change-Makers: Poems supporting Drop the Disorder!

This is a unique collection of poems written by and for people who have survived our mental health system and the diagnostic process that is used to categorise and treat mental and emotional distress. In October 2016, Jo Watson launched A Disorder for Everyone (AD4E) an international campaign to challenge the culture of psychiatric diagnosis and the labelling of expressions of emotional distress as medical disorders. Since then hundreds of people have attended AD4E events all over the UK, and thousands have joined the campaign Facebook group Drop the Disorder! What began as a shout of protest has become an international roar. Poetry has long been used to give voice to resistance and to drive change in all kinds of social movements, and it is a central aspect of this campaign as well. It has been at the heart of every AD4E event and, more recently, several online poetry events have brought together poets and poetry-lovers from across the globe under the Drop the Disorder! banner. We Are the Change-Makers is a collection of these and other poems that seek to describe the otherwise inexpressible and challenge the power of psychiatry that misrepresents and medicates what it does not understand. Poets include Sanah Ahsan, Jyl Anais, Wend Badger, Amanda Bueno de Mesquita, Dr Julie Carter, Lydia Daisy, Ruth E. Dixon, Dorothy Dundas, Martha Enticott, Tracey Farrell , Sally Fox, Jasmine Gardosi, Dr Peter Gordon, Viv Gordon, Mica Gray, Jackie Hagan, Kathleen Halley Angus , Leah Harris, Toni Hurford, Sue Irwin, Ruth Jackson, Brian E. Levitt, Jo McFarlane, James Moore, Matthew Morris, Jacky Power, Dolly Sen, Clare Shaw , Erin Stevens, Mitzy Sky, Joelle Taylor, Dr Jessica Taylor, Dr Karen Treisman, T.O. Walker, Jo Watson and Jen Yates