Agents, not objects: our fights to be.

People who have been diagnosed and treated for major mental illness have an insider expertise that can provide invaluable insight into the mysteries of people's often inexplicable movement in and out of madness. The author vividly describes his passages from identity-seeking young adult to mental hospital patient to psychologist and mental health system critic. The harmful, life-threatening treatments he experienced are examined as part of our society's propensity to treat people who are different as deviant and relegate them to ineffective and harmful medical interventions. Alternatives to psychiatric hospitalizations are promoted as more positive options for people going through confusing and frightening life-changing experiences. The article concludes with the author's ideas about what is necessary and helpful when working with someone who has been labeled with a major mental illness and what is counterproductive and harmful.