Bipolarized: Rethinking Mental Illness (2014)
77 min
BIPOLARIZED is about one man's personal journey to heal. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Ross' psychiatrist told him he would live with the disorder for the rest of his life and that he would have to take lithium to control symptoms. To Ross, taking the drug daily felt like a chemical lobotomy, leaving him in a foggy, drug-induced haze. Ross ultimately decided to resolve his symptoms outside of conventional medicine. He progressively reduced his use of the psychotropic drug lithium, at an experimental clinic in Costa Rica. What ensued was a self-exploration into alternative treatments to treat his condition and a journey delving into the root cause of his mental breakdown. The film uses Ross' personal experiences to tell a larger story about medication. It will reveal how we are labelling more and more people with mental illnesses and how, in tandem, we are prescribing more and more toxic psychotropic drugs to treat these illnesses.
- Release date
- April 21, 2014
- Country of origin
- Not yet available
Cast
- Ross McKenzie as Self
- David Goldbloom as Self
- David Goldbloom as Prof. Psychiatry
- Peter Levine as Self
- Peter Levine as Writer
- Gwen Olsen as Self
- Gwen Olsen as Pharmaceutical rep.
- Charles Whitfield as Self
- Charles Whitfield as Psychotherapist
- Robert Whittaker as Self
- Robert Whittaker as Journalist
Crew
- Rita Kotzia · Director
- Gordon Henderson · Writer
- Rita Kotzia · Writer
- Noelle Kim Chalifoux · Producer
- Gordon Henderson · Producer
- Rita Kotzia · Producer