The Hamilton Mad Students Collective: A Peer Support and Advocacy Community (HMSC, formerly known as the Mad Students Society – Hamilton Branch or Hamilton Mad Students Society) formed in 2012. Members are students age 16+ in the Hamilton-area (Ontario, Canada) who are attending or preparing to attend any school in any program and at any level of study. This includes students on a leave of absence from school and planning to return. All members self-identify as having personally experienced madness, mental health disability, mental illness, significant spiritual or emotional distress, and/or the psychiatric/mental health system. Some refer to ourselves as Mad, crazy, service users, psychiatric survivors, neuroatypical, mentally ill, or disabled.
