Reality is the theme for this year’s mental health movie series, Frames of Mind, at the Douglas. Five documentaries that provide intimate perspectives on living with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, eating disorders, depression and Alzheimer’s will be featured every Wednesday evening throughout the month of May. Douglas experts, who answer audience questions on the mental illness highlighted in the film, will host the evening.

“This year we decided to take a more sober approach and show some of the real faces of mental illnesses, “ says Jacques Hendlisz, director general of the Douglas. “Our goal is to destigmatize these disorders and help promote awareness of some of the issues. This movie series provides a perfect opportunity to increase public knowledge and discuss mental health in a comfortable environment.”

When: Every Wednesday in May
May 2 to 30, 2007, at 7:00 p.m.

Where: Douglas Hall, Douglas Institute
6875 LaSalle Blvd., Verdun

Free admission
Parking $3
The films are presented in their original versions. The discussions are bilingual.

Schedule

Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - Out of the Shadow

Subject: Schizophrenia
Description: A personal documentary chronicling the filmmaker's mother’s battle with schizophrenia, the family dynamics and her subsequent trials within the public health system.
Director and writer: Susan Smiley
Douglas experts: Ridha Joober, MD, PhD, Douglas director of the Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Theme and psychiatrist at the Prevention and Early Intervention for Psychoses Program (PEPP-Montréal) and Karl Beck, human relations agent with the Douglas Assertive Community Treatment Team

Wednesday, May 9, 2007 - Untangling the Mind: The Legacy of Dr. Heinz Lehmann

Subject: Medication and Psychosocial Therapies
Description: Riveting documentary showing the transformation that has occurred in psychiatric care through the pioneering work of Dr. Heinz Lehmann. Untangling the Mind is a record of Lehmann’s perseverance and humanity and is also an important historical record. Extraordinary archival footage of doctors performing electric shock therapy and lobotomies demonstrate how far psychiatric medicine has come.
Director: Tom Puchniak
Douglas experts: David Bloom, MD, medical chief, Intellectual Handicap with Psychiatric Comobidity Program; medical chief, Psychotic Disorders Program and Hélène Racine, nurse, director of Nursing, Quality and Risk Management

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - Thin

Subject: Eating Disorders
Description: This HBO documentary film takes us inside the walls of The Renfrew Center, a residential facility for the treatment of women with eating disorders. Four young women (ages 15 to 30) who have spent their lives starving themselves, often to the verge of death, are closely followed. It documents the daily rituals, spontaneous friendships and startling swings between recovery and relapse that make up life at the center.
Director: Lauren Greenfield
Douglas expert: Howard Steiger, PhD, director of the Douglas’ Eating Disorders Program

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - Quand le cadre ne cadre plus

Subject: Burn-out and Depression
Description: In a society that venerates performance, admitting to incapacity is often viewed as a confession of personal weakness. Quand le cadre ne cadre plus documents the experience of three individuals who fell into depression: the personal and organizational events that led them there, their struggle to overcome their illness, and the challenges of returning to work.
Director and special guest: Martine Forand
Douglas expert: Camillo Zacchia, PhD, Professional chief of Psychology at the Douglas

Wednesday, May 30, 2007 - Édith et Michel

Subject: Alzheimer Disease
Description: Do you simply survive with Alzheimer’s or can you also live a full life? This documentary depicts the dynamics of a couple that is forced to face the realities of living with Alzheimer’s. The boundaries of their relationship are surpassed as they struggle to define this new life.
Director: Jocelyne Clarke
Special guest: Édith Fournier, participant of the documentary
Douglas experts: Serge Gauthier, MD, director of the Alzheimer Disease Research Unit, McGill Centre for Studies in Aging and Céline Brunelle, nurse at the Program for Dementia with Psychiatric Comorbidity