Notable People     

Judi Chamberlin, Mental Patients' Liberation Activist, was in her early 20s when she was hospitalized in a state institution due to depression. She was horrified by the prison-like atmosphere of the hospital and soon discovered that, as a psychiatric patient, she had no legal rights. Later, in the 1970s, Judi cofounded a group of psychiatric survivors called the Mental Patients Liberation Front. In 1978 she published a book, On Our Own: Patient-Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System. Judi received the Distinguished Service Award of the President of the United States from the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities in 1992.

For more information about Ms. Chamberlin, see the following links: National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy (NARPA) and National Empowerment Center.

Judi Chamberlin is the Director of Education and Training for the National Empowerment Center and a consultant with the Boston University Center forPsychiatric Rehabilitation where she directs a research project on user-run self-help services.
Courtesy of Tom Olin