{"id":1661,"date":"2016-10-14T12:26:48","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T11:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/discursive\/?p=1661"},"modified":"2018-10-04T10:58:14","modified_gmt":"2018-10-04T09:58:14","slug":"now-this-you-have-to-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/discursive\/now-this-you-have-to-see\/","title":{"rendered":"Now this you have to see\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maddog and Anne Cooke<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the things we\u2019re proud of on the Clinical Psychology Doctorate here at Salomons is our teaching unit on service user and carer perspectives.\u00a0 One of the speakers recently had to cancel at short notice. I (Anne) had the idea of showing the trainees a service user\/survivor-recommended film instead, and then discussing the issues raised.\u00a0 As I often do, I turned to Twitter<\/a> for suggestions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"anne-tweet-films\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And boy did I get them!\u00a0 So many that they could keep me occupied for the next year.\u00a0 To help organise and review all this material I turned to service user\/survivor activist and \u2018half-dog\u2019 Twitter stalwart, Maddog (@maddoggie2<\/a>) whom I\u2019ve known for a long time and who is currently mentoring a trainee research project with me.\u00a0 A self-confessed film buff who had made many of the suggestions, she has generously collected together everyone\u2019s recommendations and provided her own commentary on each.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here they are. What\u2019s missing?\u00a0 What have the good folk of Twitter missed? Have they\u00a0 picked something you love? Or that you hate? We\u2019d love to hear from you in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Films and videos recommended by service users and survivors on Twitter.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Reviewed by Maddog<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cathy Come Home. <\/em>Ken Loach from the 1960\u2019s. A seminal film about homelessness.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Family Life. <\/em>Ken Loach\u2019s again, this time from the 1970\u2019s. A film about a young woman\u2019s struggle with parental pressures to accept her lot as a working class woman. Her subsequent descent into the psychiatric system ultimately destroys her.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I, Daniel Blake<\/em>. Ken Loach is still going at the age of 80, and his most recent film (out this month) depicts the brutal reality of today\u2019s welfare system. A must-see for every health and social care professional.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Real<\/em><\/a>. Produced by the Bristol Hearing Voices Network, this film shows the gritty reality of living with a diagnosis of psychosis, schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.\u00a0 A refreshing change from sanitised \u2018recovery\u2019 stories. My joint top recommendation with Breakdown<\/em> (below).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shine<\/em>. Geoffrey Rush\u2019s beautiful portrayal of parental and educational pressures leading to madness. It respects and honours the experience, offering clear context.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gaslight<\/em>. A 1940\u2019s film about a woman whose husband slowly manipulates her into believing that she is going insane, for his personal gain (it would resonate with aspects of the Helen and Rob storyline in The Archers<\/em>). This film gave its name to the phenomenon of \u2018gaslighting\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frances. <\/em>A film based on the real life story of the 1930\u2019s movie star Frances Farmer who refused to conform to parental and film studio expectations of women, and ended up being forcibly hospitalised.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Terminator 2: Judgement Day<\/em>. An unexpected choice maybe but bear with me. The second film in the Terminator<\/em> series: a cyborg attempts to kill the future leaders of the human resistance against a computer\/machine takeover of the world: a mother and her son. \u00a0A second cyborg attempts to save them. The key scenes much loved by survivor activists involve a disbelieving psychiatrist whose scales fall from his eyes when he is confronted with the reality of the mother\u2019s story. She also breaks his arm and sticks a needle in his neck before making an epic escape from a high secure hospital. The central message for mental health workers is:\u00a0 believe what your patient says to you or that\u2019s what could happen. I\u2019d be willing to demonstrate with any willing \u2018volunteer\u2019!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Life is Sweet<\/em>. Mike Leigh\u2019s funny and poignant exploration of family life with one member struggling with bulimia in the aftermath of life-threatening anorexia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

An Angel at my Table<\/em>. True story biopic by Jane Campion about the life of writer Janet Frame, showing her descent into long hospitalisations, and her ultimate survival.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The War Zone<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>\u00a0Tim Roth\u2019s 1999 directorial debut with a hard hitting drama portraying sexual abuse in a family.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ring<\/em> (Japanese edition). A psychological horror film notable for a scene depicting a character moving from one reality to another. A woman on the TV actually climbs out through the TV screen. This is useful imagery in understanding what it can be like for voice hearers who experience their voices coming from the TV.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taking over the Asylum<\/em>. A highly acclaimed 1990\u2019s TV series set in a Scottish acute psychiatric unit and focusing on the lives and struggles of the patients. The writer Donna Franceschild<\/a> had direct experience which shows in the writing. One character is especially notable for a sensitive and unusually rounded portrayal of experience diagnosed as OCD.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest<\/em>. Classic film often derided by psychiatrists and nurses for \u2018damaging the reputation\u2019 of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).\u00a0 However for me what\u2019s central to the film is the portrayal of the everyday emotional brutality, seen particularly in \u2018Billy\u2019s\u2019 storyline. Staff nurse Ratched is expertly played not as a monster, but as a person who truly believes that her monstrous actions are in the patients\u2019 best interests.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Poppy Shakespeare<\/em>. A 2008 film based on the award winning book by Clare Allan about the lives of patients in a North London mental health day hospital.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Hours<\/em>. Three generations of women connected by the Virginia Woolf novel Mrs Dalloway<\/em><\/a> struggle for meaning in their lives and with mental distress and suicide.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gattaca<\/em>. A visually elegant sci-fi film set in a eugenic future where babies conceived outside of the eugenics programme are second class citizens serving the genetic elite. The film focuses on two characters struggling to find their places in society, one genetically \u2018flawed\u2019 and the other genetically \u2018perfect\u2019 but paralysed by an accident.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sling Blade<\/em>. A poignant film about a man with a learning disability released from hospital, his acceptance around an awkward community, friendship with a lonely boy and his sacrifice to protect the boy from family violence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Requiem for a Dream<\/em>. A bleak and gripping psychological drama about different forms of drug addiction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Donovan Quick<\/em>. A retelling of the Don Quixote story set in present day Scotland by \u2018Taking over the Asylum\u2019 writer Donna Franceshild.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Science and the Swastika<\/em>. A television series examining science and morality during the Third Reich, and the practice of eugenics and euthanasia in Nazi occupied Europe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nuts<\/em>. A 1980\u2019s film with Barbara Streisand as a sex worker abused as a child, now accused of murder and fighting against an insanity plea. It\u2019s very Hollywood but worth a view.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Asylum<\/em>. 2005 Film set in the 1950\u2019s which depicts a psychiatrist\u2019s wife\u2019s rebellion against gender expectations, sexual obsession and psychological manipulation by a psychiatrist played by Ian McKellen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good Will Hunting<\/em>. Film about a young, unrecognised genius using therapy sessions to re-evaluate his past and his relationships, and to think about his future.\u00a0 The therapist is played by Robin Williams.<\/strong><\/p>\n

These are films I\u2019m unfamiliar with so can\u2019t review but were recommended by members of the Recovery in the Bin<\/em><\/a> group:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Silver Linings Playbook <\/em>[Editor\u2019s note: this is one we\u2019ve considered in detail<\/a> in the past.]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Garden State <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Days of Wine and Roses<\/em>
\nFight Club
\nSon of Saul
\nMelancholia <\/em>by Lars von Trier<\/strong><\/p>\n

Birdman or the Unexpected Value of Ignorance <\/em>by Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu
\nJeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles <\/em>by Chantal Akerman\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u0421\u043e\u043b\u044f\u0440\u0438\u0441<\/em>\/Soljaris (Solaris) <\/em>by Andrej Tarkovskij<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other films<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Beyond popular (and broadly mainstream) films like the ones above, there are also a large number of films from a variety of other sources available on platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. Here is a selection of ones I\u2019d argue are essential and should be part of the core curriculum in mental health education and training. Be warned, some of them take strong positions and really aren\u2019t comfortable viewing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This Time it\u2019s Personal<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0<\/em>Psychocompulsion & Workfare\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Protest & Intervention.<\/em><\/a> Work cure therapy for benefit claimants with mental health disabilities<\/strong><\/p>\n

Controversy over Islington ‘Job’s on Prescription’ scheme<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A talk by Lynne Friedli<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 <\/em>of \u2018Boycott Workfare\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

DWP cruelty exposed<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mike Sivier: DWP Staff Asking Sick And Disabled \u2018<\/em>Why Haven’t You Killed Yourself?<\/em><\/a>\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Restraint <\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by CanDo Films<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=U4jJS3o2Th0<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Lynne Friedli: <\/em>What\u2019s wrong with recovery?<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Lynne Friedli <\/em><\/a>talks about the use and abuse of psychology by the DWP<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Divide<\/em><\/a> A political documentary about inequality. Access code CROWDFUNDERONLY.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Peter Beresford on recovery<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>We\u2019re not Mad We\u2019re Angry<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>Made in the 1980\u2019s, this is still the only film produced for mainstream television where survivors had full editorial control.<\/strong><\/p>\n

From Anger to Action<\/em><\/a> A follow-up to We\u2019re Not Mad We\u2019re Angry.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Breakdown<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>A seminal, award winning Capital Radio portrayal of two people\u2019s experience of psychosis. My other joint top recommendation.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Fish on a Hook<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>An animation of agoraphobia narrated by the person experiencing it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unlabelling Borderline Trauma<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>Debra Marshall<\/strong><\/p>\n

Legendary US activist Judy Chamberlin<\/em><\/a> at the World Psychiatric Association Dresden<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pat Deegan\u2019s Amazing Story<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/em>Pat Deegan on recovery<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exposing Psychiatry – Only Smarties have the answer <\/em>(8 parts)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aidan Shingler\u2019s creative puppetry exploring his experience in psychiatry:<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-T0EderenDU<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zbBytj8eaZo<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_7thJ2ekYWw<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=45XLHUezdfQ<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X7CfcKvHeP4<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ejRnUak5lJI<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aWZIt0xqSKI<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jCTmUdEceqc<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Experts’ panel and an interview with Prof. Peter Fonagy<\/em><\/a>|Borderline Personality Disorder. \u00a0<\/em>Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Interesting point at 3 minutes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rethinking BPD: A Clinician\u2019s View<\/em><\/a> Nine minutes in Marsha Linehan refers to how she chose the diagnosis of \u2018Borderline Personality Disorder\u2019 for her research.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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