Every year, approximately 42.5 million Americans suffer from a mental illness. This number is huge; so why is there still a massive stigma surrounding mental illness and those who suffer from them? We often associate mental illnesses with depression, going crazy, or suicide. Although mental illnesses definitely have detrimental effects on people, there are also many people who have learned to live well with their illness.
Aside from being a singer-songwriter, Demi Lovato is also a mental health advocate. Not only does she speak openly about her own bipolar disorder, she’s also spoke to Congress about a mental health reform, created a program to pay for people’s mental health treatment, and brought CAST centers, a treatment center she co owns, on tour with her to give mental health workshops to her fans. Now, just about a week ago, she released her newest project: a mental health documentary called Beyond Silence.
Beyond Silence, which Lovato is the executive producer of, is part of the Be Vocal: Speak Up campaign for mental health awareness that Lovato helped create along with several other mental health organizations. The film is approximately 30 minutes and tells the stories of three people: Lauren Burke, Jeff Fink, and Lloyd Hale who have mental illnesses like bipolar II, schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression. It follows them around in their day to day lives and portrays how mental illness uniquely effected each individual, how they got help, and how they live ordinary lives today.
This documentary is extremely important as it does an amazing job in teaching its audience that you can live well with a mental illness and that not every mentally ill person falls into the stereotypes that we have created as a society.
While watching Beyond Silence, you will realize the serious implications that different mental illnesses have on people. You will be moved by how each person turned their life around. And, you will definitely cry while listening to their stories. Beyond Silence is a film that every person should watch and take something away from.
To watch, Beyond Silence, and to learn how you can help erase the mental health stigma, you can go to http://www.bevocalspeakup.com/documentary.html. Demi Lovato has dedicated her career to helping those with mental illnesses, and it’s time for the rest of us to catch up and help remove the dangerous stereotypes surrounding the mental illness.
