Support Chris Dubey's Writing & Activism: Reform Psychiatry

Support Christopher James Dubey, Psychiatric Survivor & Mental Healthcare Reform Advocate

My Story

I'm Chris Dubey, a psychiatric survivor, independent scholar, and mental healthcare reform advocate from Connecticut. For over 20 years (2002-2024), I was a medicated psychiatric patient. At age 22 in 2005, shortly after graduating college magna cum laude with a humanities degree, I became permanently disabled following misdiagnosed SSRI withdrawal-induced suicide attempts and other adverse effects from medication, I was declared to have "treatment-resistant" depression, and I was court-ordered to undergo electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a very traumatic experience. This opened my eyes to the dark side of psychiatry, which I was naive about before.

Today, I live with significant disabilities and chronic health conditions, including permanent foot injuries, a persistent spinal fracture, and idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), which causes continuous pressure headache, pain, insomnia, and worsened cognitive difficulties. I rely on SSDI, SSI, Medicare, Medicaid, and subsidized housing.

My Advocacy Work

Despite these challenges, I was able to obtain an associate degree in biotechnology in 2009. And I've made meaningful contributions to reduce psychiatric harm:

• Wrote article on ECT and brain damage in a peer-reviewed journal, which was cited in an expert witness report and used as evidence in a federal court case

• Initiated Connecticut state legislation against involuntary ECT and testified about the harms of ECT

• Testified for more funding for peer-run respites, voluntary non-clinical alternatives to hospitalization for people in mental health crisis

• Interviewed for a documentary about the harms of ECT

• Self-published a science fiction novel featuring characters forced to undergo ECT

• Member of numerous mental health reform advocacy organizations, including the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), the Inner Compass Initiative (ICI), the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry (ISEPP), Keep The Promise Coalition (KTP), MindFreedom International (MFI), and the National Survivor User Network (NSUN)

Why I'm Fundraising

I want to work on several important projects, including:

• A Substack blog sharing my unique commentary and observations about psychiatry and mental health politics

• A peer-reviewed article on potential alternatives to ECT when medical treatment is necessary (preprint available and I found a journal interested in publishing it after revision)

• A resource guide e-book for people tapering off psychiatric medications

• Updated journal article on ECT-induced brain damage, with additional evidence and more organized writing

• A young adult fantasy/paranormal novel incorporating psychiatric survivor themes

Your support can help provide better housing with more privacy and quiet, which would significantly improve my ability to continue this important work. Due to my current benefits situation, total monthly donations above $517 are needed to outweigh reductions to my SSI payment up to that amount for that month, so higher contributions are most helpful.

Thank you for considering my campaign. Together, we can work toward a mental healthcare system that helps more than harms.

Note: This fundraiser was created with the help of Generative AI from assistant Claude (Anthropic).