Jens - Voices of the Street

Jens has a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and tells his own story to break down stereotypes about mental illness. As he says himself: those of us with mental illness are not contagious, so there's no need to be so afraid of us.

On this city walk, you'll hear about his experiences as a psychiatric patient - first at age 17, when the shame of the diagnosis was heavy and difficult to bear. After stays in treatment collectives, he improved, became a student, and trained as a schoolteacher. He thought he was well, but later developed an anxiety psychosis that lasted over a year, and is now on early retirement. He also talks about medication and its limitations, about what has actually helped him - long walks, friends, literature - and about his use of hash and speed from an early age, which earned him the nickname Jens Rygvind.

Along the way through Vesterbro, he shows places that have held personal meaning for him and shares his historical knowledge of the neighbourhood - including how Vesterbro has developed into expensive addresses and thereby excluded many of those who originally belonged there.