Humans are story-telling creatures. By thinking, we all unconsciously "author" a self-story in our heads. Most often, the characters and plot of our story is framed by negative experiences from childhood. These painful "stories" then determine our emotions, leading to unhealthy stress, and changes in body chemistry. This is how a person's self-story can turn into a stress-related illness.
Related Movies
A Point of Return (1964)
A short film portrays the events of a depressed man's day, culminating, presumably, in his suicide, though the ending is ambiguous. Afterwards, a roundtable of mental hygiene professionals and social workers examine the film, while discussing the phenomenon of suicide more broadly.
The Hasty Man Drinks His Tea with a Fork (2003)
A blend of drama and documentary, this film follows several people caught up in the turmoil of the modern world. The drama centres on a woman who has burned out and who holds up her own despair – and her attempts to rebuild her life – as a mirror to the rest of us. With a blend of gravity and humour, Sylvie Groulx's film shows the absurdity of a society dedicated to the cult of speed at all costs.
PTSD911 (NaN)
First Responders sign up to serve; they risk their lives and their mental health to respond to someone’s worst day. Who will rescue them? PTSD911 is a documentary film about real people: normal, average human beings who have chosen to work in professions that require above average heroism, fortitude, and resolve. These men and women have jobs that require a willingness to face things that most of us can’t even imagine, yet maintain a high level of dignity and professionalism. First responders in fact repeatedly see and experience things that most of us will never see, causing compound issues related to post-traumatic stress injuries and disorders.
Digging in the Dirt (2019)
A documentary about the psychological costs of working in Alberta's oil sands and the mental health crisis that's been ignored for a decade.
Fear (2009)
In Fear, documentary filmmaker Michiel van Erp creates a collage of inhabitants of the city of Amsterdam who struggle with various anxiety disorders. Today, more patients with anxiety disorders seek professional help than those who suffer from depression, making anxiety the number one mental illness in the Netherlands. This film will show how a small number of those patients attempt to overcome their fears, in order to get on with their lives in the crowded cosmopolitan city that Amsterdam is today.
I Am: Celine Dion (2024)
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Space: The Longest Goodbye (2024)
Social isolation affects millions of people, even Mars-bound astronauts. A savvy NASA psychologist is tasked with protecting these daring explorers.
Voices from the Shadows (NaN)
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Asylum: A History of the Mental Institution in America (1989)
The complex and controversial history of the mental institution in the U.S. through a detailed study of St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Wrestling Ghosts (2018)
Unable to understand why parenting seems like a constant uphill battle, an emotionally exhausted mother who can’t connect with her two young sons courageously confronts the events of her own traumatic childhood.
Sicko (2007)
A documentary about the corrupt health care system in The United States who's main goal is to make profit even if it means losing people’s lives. "The more people you deny health insurance the more money we make" is the business model for health care providers in America.
Vincent Who? (2009)
Documentary about the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982 and the aftermath. The documentary also explores the modern Asian-American identity when so few Asian-American youths are aware of who Vincent Chin is.
The Psychedelic Experience (1965)
Experimental movie, where a man comes home and experiences LSD. His kaleidoscopic visions follow, with readings inspired by the Tibethan Book of the Dead.
Awareness in the Dark; Let's Get Mental (2016)
Filmmaker Gentamu McKinney and medical professionals recall experiences with mental illness and provide insight into the unique mental health struggles faced by the black community.
The Weight of Gold (2020)
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The Bridge (2006)
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Afterword: Images of the Unconscious (2014)
Dialoguing directly with the trilogy of documentaries “Images of the Unconscious”, made between 1983 and 1986 and based on clinical cases and therapies with a humanist approach and artistic expression, conducted by the pioneering psychiatrist Nise da Silveira (1905-1999) – screenwriter of that film –, here is presented, in two parts, an interview with the doctor, a student of Carl Jung and a pioneer in the application of non-violent treatments for psychiatric patients, given to director Leon Hirszman, in 1986. The conversation is divided in two parts: the first, "The emotion of dealing", the second, "The egress".