Afflictions: Culture & Mental Illness in Indonesia (2010)

Country

Indonesia

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary series follows mentally ill individuals in Bali and Java, showing their diagnoses, care, and how their families and communities shape their experiences.

meditativesobereducationalhumanizingobservationalculturally specificgentle

What happens

Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia is a six-part ethnographic documentary film series on the lives of the mentally ill living on the islands of Bali and Java in Indonesia. Each film documents the personal journey of a patient's diagnosis, care and treatment and the impact of culture, family, and community on the course of their illness. The films were directed and produced by ethnographic filmmaker and psychological anthropologist Robert Lemelson. The films are based on Lemelson's ethnographic research from 1997 to 2010 on the relationship of psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders to culture. It is the first film series on mental illness in the developing world. Some emerging themes include: attitudes of family members, the power of culture in mental health outcomes, the merits of pharmaceutical treatment, and the importance of cultural context in understanding the experiences of the mentally ill. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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