Punky Dreyfus

Punky (any/all pronouns), is based in Boston, MA. They are 25 years old, a queer, gender non-conforming, white, anti-zionist, jewish, creative, sober, and enraged human being. Punky finds joy in connecting with and learning from other mad people in the area. Punky is a musician- she plays guitar and sings in her friend’s band, called InkBlot!

Punky continues to be one of the Youth Access Chairs for the Lived Experience Committee at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston along with Tyler Josma (he/him). Recently, Punky worked at MPATH (Massachusetts Psychosis Access and Triage Hub) as a young adult peer mentor. With MPATH, Punky worked closely with Dr. Emily Gagen, and together they offered presentations regarding what most clinical spaces refer to as "psychosis" experiences. Together they presented to universities including: Bentley, MIT, Harvard, William James. Punky used their time in the presentations to share a handful of her experiences within the mental health system and challenge doctors, nurses, educators, school counselors, and teachers' biases regarding the ability and worth of people’s autonomy and life beyond the institutions that case them in.

Punky did her best to vocalize that “disorders” or “problem behaviors” are not local to human brains. They stem from larger contagions like racism, ableism, sanism, sexism, fatphobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and white euro-centric beauty standards which are often rooted in white supremacist ideals as well. Punky is very inspired by some of Pat Deegan’s writing along with other mad authors and community members.