Impish and twinkle-eyed, Sh'mal Ellenberg can joke about his chaotic work: helping mentally-ill drug addicts reclaim their lives. His clients are people like Kat, a hot-blooded women with insight into her mental illness, and Dale, a charismatic man with an unending drug addiction. Sh'mal can relate to his clients and their life on the fringes of society and never loses his cool when they throw tantrums or get evicted from their apartments. Yet, when...

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is often viewed as a minor annoyance, or worse, something useful. The fact is OCD is a serious mental health issue that traps millions of kids, teens and adults in a vicious cycle of worries and rituals. While families and loved ones are desperate to help them, fighting OCD takes time and specialized therapy. To uncover what OCD is -- and what it isn't -- filmmakers Kelly Anderson and Chris Baier focus on an unlikely...

Crazy...or wise? Indigenous cultures address "mental illnesses" quite differently from western societies. Are symptoms a 'calling' to grow or just a 'broken brain'? The documentary CRAZYWISE explores what can be learned from people around the world who have turned their psychological crisis into a positive transformative experience. During a quarter-century documenting indigenous cultures, human-rights photographer and filmmaker Phil Borges often...

Death Is Not the Answer delves deeply into the complex, often misunderstood world of depression and suicide. This PBS documentary features many of the nation's most respected mental health professionals. The film also offers enlightened thoughts of how we can find contentment and happiness through mind-body health, diet and music. We explore the world of firefighters, first responders and police, featuring Oakland County Sheriff Bouchard and Detroit...

This documentary examines the personal journey of Mariel Hemingway, the granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway, as she strives for a deeper understanding of the suicide and mental iillness that have afflicted so many of her family members. Intimate verité footage and raw, emotional interviews with Mariel and her daughter are interwoven with rarely seen archival footage of the three Hemingway sisters and their parents.