Throughout the production and especially during our Kickstarter campaign we received many personal stories from people moved by our film. We are encouraged to know that we’ve touched on a subject that resonates with so many – like Alyssa and Sara:
Thank you for making this film! I started crying when I saw your portrayal of Adam’s experiences because I have had the same. There are no words to accurately describe those voices of pain or the horror of the imagery. Many see it and they do hear it, but they sublimate it and believe that it is “natural.” It is not natural. It is quite unnatural not to communicate with Nature and the Universe, and much effort is exerted in denying that there is no distinction between what Is and what also Is.
What we call mental illness is a threshold experience. We are a country of emerging healers on the brink of realizing our unfathomable, intrinsic wealth, not a sick and wounded people. So, thank you. Thank you so very much.
A Tibetan pilgrim at the end of a prostration, face down on the earth, while en route around the kora (path) of a mountain.
“I strongly believe that we need these sorts of films to highlight the tragedy that is the psychiatric industry. I fell prey to their opinions for 17 years and have just spent 5 years withdrawing from the insidious medications I was taking for every diagnosis under the sun. Something inside me knew there was nothing that wrong with me that I needed medication, so I set about the business of getting my life back. 6 weeks ago I took my final pill. It was a tiny bit of valium, the last drug I was to withdraw from. I am completely sane and have already been asked to be the guest speaker at the international Psychiatric Survivors Annonymous meeting. I am slowly healing and regaining my life but it is taking time and courage. I spend many hours with other people who have been on a similar journey on facebook. Though they are private groups, they are FULL of us. Somehow, when the human spirit is desperate for an answer, it will find a way. We now have regular online meetings that I can only see getting bigger and more frequent. I encourage you to continue your work so we can break the myth of “mental illness” and start dealing with it in a more compassionate and understanding way.”
– Sarah Hope
What do we hope for by making this documentary?
We ALL benefit by knowing the lived experiences of others who have been there. We simply need more options for ourselves and loved ones who find no where to turn in their struggle with mental health. We want to change the stigma and ignorance regarding mental distress. We want it to be known that recovery without lifelong medication and stigmatization is possible.
So keep writing us and sharing your experience because it’s a constant reminder how important and necessary this work is for so many. We can’t tell you how grateful we feel knowing that you’re inspired by CRAZYWISE. Our documentary is so much richer for all of your participation.
