Tuesdays, June 14 & 21, 2022 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV + Wednesdays, June 15 & 22 at 11 p.m. on KPBS 2 / On demand with PBS Video App
The four-part series, MYSTERIES OF MENTAL ILLNESS, examines the story of mental illness in science and society. Explore the evolution in understanding, and the dramatic attempts across generations to unravel the difficult questions surrounding mental illness people have grappled with throughout history: What causes it? And how is it best treated?
MYSTERIES OF MENTAL ILLNESS, airing on PBS in June 2021, explores the story of mental illness in science and society. The four-part series traces the evolution of this complex topic from its earliest days to present times. It explores dramatic attempts across generations to unravel the mysteries of mental illness and gives voice to contemporary Americans across a spectrum of experiences.
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Students with Psychosis founder Cecilia McGough, who lives with schizophrenia, speaks at the organization's annual fundraising Gala in March of 2020.
Courtesy of Pangloss Films
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Members of Students with Psychosis walk the runway holding protest signs at their annual fundraising gala in March of 2020. Cecilia McGough, who lives with schizophirena, founded the organization when she was in college.
Courtesy of Pangloss Films
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Virginia "Ginny" Fuchs trains for the Olympics. Captain of the US Boxing team, Ginny has been living with severe OCD for most of her life.
Courtesy of Pangloss Films
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Champion Boxer, Virginia "Ginny" Fuchs undergoes exposure therapy for her OCD. Therapist Angela Smith helps Ginny confront her fear of contamination in order to help her better manage her symptoms.
Courtesy of Pangloss Films
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After presenting with alarming psychotic symptoms, Lorina Gutierrez was initially admitted to a psychiatric facility. When psychiatric medications failed to help her, doctors re-examined her diagnosis and determined she had a rare and only recently discovered autoimmune disease called anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Cases like Lorina's beg the question - is there a difference between physical and mental illness?
Courtesy of Pangloss Films
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Iraq veteran and former firefighter Ryan Mains shares a moment with his wife Danielle. Like many veterans and first-responders Ryan lives with PTSD. In May of 2020 Ryan created 'Run For Our Lives' an ultramarathon in which he ran 130km to raise awareness for PTSD and commemorate the 130 firefighter-paramedics who died by suicide in 2019.
Courtesy of Pangloss Films
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Iraq veteran and former firefighter Ryan Mains shares a moment with his wife Danielle. Like many veterans and first-responders Ryan lives with PTSD. In May of 2020 Ryan created 'Run For Our Lives' an ultramarathon in which he ran 130km to raise awareness for PTSD and commemorate the 130 firefighter-paramedics who died by suicide in 2019.
Courtesy of Pangloss Films
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LA-based criminal defense lawyer, Mia Yamamoto is a Vietnam veteran, Japanese American and transgender woman. Before transitioning in her 60's, Mia spent decades trying to understand what was 'wrong' with her. Today she embraces all aspects of her identity and advocates for others in the LGBTQ+ community.
Courtesy of Pangloss Films
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Michael Walrond, senior pastor of First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem New York, often meditates before giving his Sunday sermons. Having wrestled with depression for decades, today Pastor Mike speaks openly about mental health from the pulpit and operates the HOPE Center - a free mental health clinic in Harlem. He hopes to reduce stigma around mental illness and encourage those who need it to seek care.
Courtesy of Pangloss Films
EPISODE GUIDE:
Episode 1: “Evil Or Illness?” Tuesday, June 14 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV / On Demand with PBS Video App - Examine ancient conceptions of mental illness and the establishment of psychiatry. Hear the stories of modern-day people living with mental illness, including an aspiring astrophysicist with schizophrenia and an Olympics-bound boxer with OCD.
Treatment of mental illness over history has been trial and error and, today, doctors still search for answers. Follow the story of Cecilia McGough, who struggles with persistent hallucinations and delusions. Learn about Lorina Gutierrez's mysterious condition, referred to as 'Brain on Fire', and Virginia Fuchs, an Olympics-bound boxer living with OCD.
Episode 2: “Who's Normal?“ Wednesday, June 15 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV / On Demand with PBS Video App - Trace the fight to develop mental illness standards rooted in empirical science rather than dogma. Learn how science and societal factors are deeply entwined with our ever-shifting definitions and diagnoses of mental health and illness.
Learn how science and societal factors are deeply entwined with our ever-shifting definitions and diagnoses of mental health and illness. Follow the stories of Ryan Mains, an Iraq veteran struggling with PTSD, Mia Yamamoto, California’s first openly transgender lawyer, and Michael, a Harlem based pastor and healer living with depression.
Episode 3: “Rise And Fall Of The Asylum” Tuesday, June 21 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV / On Demand with PBS Video App - Follow the rise and fall of mental asylums in the United States. Visit the nation's largest de-facto mental health facility, meet the detainees whose lives hang in the balance, and discover the harsh realities of care both inside and outside.
Until a few decades ago, the United States relied on mass confinement in mental asylums, for the mentally ill, as well as extreme treatments, from lobotomy to coma therapy. Today, at Cook County Jail in Chicago, more than one-third of inmates have a mental health diagnosis. Meet the detainees whose lives hang in the balance and discover the harsh realities of care both in and out of jail.
Episode 4: “The New Frontiers” Wednesday, June 22 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV / On Demand with PBS Video App - Look at today's most cutting-edge treatments, based on the latest understanding of mental illness, with profiles of patients undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery, infusions of ketamine and modern electro-convulsive therapy.
Look at today’s most cutting-edge treatments for mental illness, and explore one of the most urgent fronts on the battle against mental illness: the fight for inclusion – a society more open to all kinds of minds and behavior, and free from stigma, based on the understanding that mental health exists on a spectrum.
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