Psychiatry - Documentaries

Mental: A History of the Madhouse
BBC4, Tuesday 25th May 2010, 11.30pm
Documentary which tells the fascinating and poignant story of the closure of Britain's mental asylums. In the post-war period, 150,000 people were hidden away in 120 of these vast Victorian institutions all across the country. Today, most mental patients, or service users as they are now called, live out in the community and the asylums have all but disappeared. Through powerful testimonies from patients, nurses and doctors, the film explores this seismic revolution and what it tells us about society's changing attitudes to mental illness over the last sixty years.

Sectioned
BBC4, Wednesday 26th May 2010, 23.20pm
Powerful documentary which, for the first time, follows three people who have been sectioned on their journey through the mental health system. With unprecedented access to one of the largest mental health trusts in the UK, the film focuses on three patients as they battle to regain control of their lives, bringing into sharp focus the huge challenges faced by patients and staff alike.

Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive
Episode 1: BBC4, Monday 17th May 2010, 7.30pm
Episode 2: BBC4, Wednesday 19th May 2010, 7.30pm
The UK actor and comedian Stephen Fry takes an astonishingly open look at his own and other people's experiences of living with bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression. Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness but if well managed and with help from family, friends, support groups and health professionals, a person with bipolar can lead a productive and satisfying life.

The Human Mind “Get Smart”
BBC1 - 2003-2004, 58 min
In this series, Professor Robert Winston explores the vast and wonderful capabilities of the human mind and looks at what can be done to make the most of it - from altering personality, winning friends and influencing people and improving learning and understanding. This film uncovers what happens in our minds when we learn and manipulate knowledge, how we can boost our brain power, improve our memory and to tap into intuition born of experience

Your Life in Their Hands
BBC1 (UK) Monday 8 March 2004, 9pm
Henry Marsh is one of the busiest and most pioneering neurosurgeons in the country. It’s dangerous work - a slip of his scalpel could paralyse someone, erase their memories or alter their personality forever. Henry’s patient Adrian looks like a typical thirty year old, he plays football, drinks with his mates, is deeply in love with his wife, Charlotte, and feels at the peak of health. However Adrian is diagnosed with a tumour very close to the speech area of his brain, which will kill him if left untreated. Henry proposes a radical procedure to try and save Adrian. He will operate on Adrian’s brain while he is awake, enabling Henry to monitor Adrian's speech as the tumour is removed and hopefully minimising any permanent brain damage. It is the best chance Adrian has to prolong his life, but if something goes wrong he could lose the power of speech, or worse.

‘Ex Memoria’
UK, 2006, 15 min
A short film about one woman’s experience of dementia. It is the result of a collaboration between the award-winning writer/director Josh Appignanesi and lecturers from Bradford Dementia Group.
www.exmemoriafilm.co.uk

"The Lobotomist”
PBS special, Monday, January 21, 2008, 9.00-10.00 pm ET
For several decades during the last century, the surgical procedure known as lobotomy was widely practiced in mental institutions and doctors offices across the nation as a cure for severe mental illnesses, including depression, aggressive and erratic behavior. The surgery took just a few minutes, but forever altered their lives. They were calmer, sure--but they also lost physical and mental function. Many became childlike, some later revered to their symptomatic behavior. Several died. This is a film documentary about Dr. Walter Freeman, who pioneered first the lobotomy.

Boy Who Draws Buildings
BBC, 1991
Stephen Wiltshire is only 16 and his amazing drawings sell for over £ 1,000 a piece. Yet he cannot be trusted to cross the road on his own.