Valuing the experience of madness.

New Zealand’s First National Nutters Conference “Valuing the Experience of Madness” is being hosted in Napier later this month by the Lighthouse Trust.

His Excellency the Governor General of New Zealand the Honourable Anand Satyanand, PCNZM will officially open the conference at 10 am on November the 22, 2006.

Another conference highlight will be the release of the film “A Town Like Alice directed by Jim Marbrook, says Susie Crooks of the Trust.

“This film deals with one of the blackest periods in New Zealand’s medical history,” she says.

Consumers and workers in mental health services from around the country will attend the conference.

Human rights lawyer Tony Ellis will be a keynote speaker at the conference. Tony is a founding member of New Zealand’s only human rights legal practice, and has won many ground-breaking cases in the High Court.

A key message for the conference will be that people who experience madness are valued members of the community, says Susie.

“That recovery from major mental illness is far more likely when treatment is voluntary and our human rights are respected.

“Treatment plays a very small part in recovery and housing, families, employment, being valued and all the things that make life worth living play a much greater role.

“Hope filled recovery services happen when there is genuine involvement of service users at every level from developing polices, funding and planning, to all service delivery.

“Run by nutters for the whole sector, this event is one not to be missed.”.

The Light House is run by psychiatric patients for people with a broad spectrum of mental health issues.

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