The first few days of the conference were very enlightening and educational. We listened to a variety of panels and speakers describe their research, experiences and interpretations of the CRPD and Human Rights legislation.  One panel I found interesting was the “Mad Studies” panel on the second day. I am new to the “Mad Studies” field and this panel gave a general introduction on the topic, with four individuals who have survived treatment and who have now become experts in the Mad Studies field. At first I was surprised by the use of the word “Mad” when referring to people with psycho-social disabilities however it was later explained that the  psycho-social community was taking back the term it efforts to normalize it. This is not the first community to do this, the LGBT community did a similar thing with the terms “gay” and “queer.”

One subject I found especially interesting during the panel was the concept of magic. I believe one or two of the speakers in the panel discussed people who heard voices and are as a result considered possessors of a higher power where are others are considered crazy. Cath Roper specifically, mentioned the existence of magic and that reality is a relative concept. I liked the discussion about reality and magic because it was a more philosophical subject in a conference that has been dominated by legal studies and science. I think  looking at philosophical subjects can be a tool to get a deeper understanding of a concept. I agree with Roper in that we can not define reality because people perceive and experience life differently and who is to decide what experience is right? Because of this, Roper proposed that we treat every reality and person equally in order to prevent discrimination when it comes to Mental Health treatment or policy making. I agree with this conclusion and hope that psychiatrists and professionals can take this approach and understand that one person’s reality may be different but is just as real. Perhaps with this point of view sympathy will prosper and better treatments will result.