Anoiksis: Dutch association of people with psychosis susceptibility

This booklet has been written by and for people who are susceptible to psychosis.
Psychosis susceptibility encompasses different diagnoses, such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, with each diagnosis having an underlying pattern. Furthermore, the type and duration of each individual’s symptoms must be considered. Although the diagnostic categories are open to discussion, these are used by the doctor to determine which treatment has the best chance of success for the individual. The diagnoses themselves have little predictive value; the course of the disorder being different for each individual.

Seeing that, particularly, schizophrenia is a much-misused and therefore charged term, Anoiksis would rather speak of “psychosis susceptibility”.

In this booklet we explore on the one hand, the experiences of people with this susceptibility, and on the other, the expert opinions of healthcare professionals. Each section is structured with first an actual personal experience, followed by an expert consideration of the underlying issues.

The experiences describe situations that could occur to people with psychosis susceptibility. Perhaps you recognize yourself in one story more than in another.

You can download this booklet from: www.psychosegevoelig.nl/english

For information on Anoiksis see: http://www.anoiksis.nl/

AWAKENINGS FOUNDATION BARCSAY ART CIRCLE

The „Barcsay Art Brute Circle” works with the help of the Awakenings Foundation in Hungary.

It is not an art-therapy group in the traditional sense but an open creative art Circle, where healthy people and people dealing with different mental health problems can meet freely, inspire each other and create artistic works.

Image removed.Our community does not consist of patients, clients, amateurs or professionals, but people, who feel the need to Create. Anyone who accepts the principles of the Circle can join. Our artists are free to own their creations, and decide collectively which works should be exhibited. In the case of (unfortunately rare) sales, they support the work of the Circle and the Foundation with a 20%. They create their own works in a broad spectrum of styles and talents, with the help of a professional art director Andrea Bartha. We did have collective exhibitions, and some of our members have already had their own individual exhibitions.

The artistic director Andrea has developed a special multi-step program, which is constantly evolving, enriched by the experience of the Circle’s members. The program is not compulsory, yet it helps to master the creative process easier and in an entertaining way. With personal assistance of the artistic director, each participant is able to proceed at its own pace. Likewise, everyone can choose to do different things, despite taking part in the program or not. We believe that the group already has some great artists! (Pictures of their work are available below).

We have many plans for the future, we want to further develop the Circle, acquire a larger work-place and complement it with other artistic alternatives (movement, music, theater), as well as to organize a festival. The Circle would also like to meet and exchange experiences with similar groups in other countries. To enter an international exchange program is one of our dreams. Unfortunately the Circle has no funds at all (except some rather small, irregular individual donations). For the moment, our art director is working as a volunteer, though we would really like to continue working on this new art-therapy system with her.

More information and pictures from the latest exhibition can be accessed here. You can also watch a short video with some first-hand description about the studio.

To learn more about the Circle, please contact the Art Director Andrea Bartha at andulin1@gmail.com