War In The Mind
Bullfrog Films • 1h 4m
Directed by Judy Jackson • Documentary • 2012 • 64 minutes
It's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): the unending echo of battle etched in the brain which may affect up to 15% of soldiers by some estimates. It can destroy families, and can leave its sufferers unable to work, addiction addled and changed.
All the soldiers who bravely speak out in this film are doing so because they want us to understand what they endure. They also want to reach out to others who are suffering in silence, and may feel the only way of ending their pain is ending their lives.
Senator and Lieutenant General (Ret.) Romeo Dallaire of Rwanda fame also plays a major role in this film. For many years he has heroically spoken out in public to declare that he suffered intensely from PTSD and had attempted suicide. And today he continues to campaign on behalf of all soldiers who suffer.
War in the Mind also investigates the issue of soldier suicide. Statistics from past and present wars tell the sad story of the magnitude of this problem. Currently more soldiers are dying from suicide than in battle. Families who have felt invisible, their sons' stories unacknowledged, tell of the impact of their loss.
Yet this film also discovers that with effective treatment suicide can be prevented. Our cameras gained unique access to a UBC/Royal Canadian Legion program which helps soldiers undo the wiring that military training has implanted in their brains, confront their pain, and learn to live again.
Note : This film necessarily includes disturbing scenes of war as well as some profanity.
Up Next in Bullfrog Films
-
Water First
Directed by Amy Hart • Documentary • 2008 • 46 minutes
Through the inspiring story of Charles Banda, a humble Malawian fireman turned waterman, we see how water is a solution to many of the problems in his impoverished, sub-Saharan country. From hunger and poverty to women's equality and populat...
-
We Are Not Ghosts
Directed by Mark Dworkin & Melissa Young • Documentary • 2012 • 52 minutes
Fifty years ago Detroit was booming with two million hard-working people living the American Dream. Then the auto industry crashed and so did the Motor City. Most moved away; whole neighborhoods turned into wastelands...
-
We Still Live Here
Directed by Anne Makepeace • Documentary • 2011 • 56 minutes
Celebrated every Thanksgiving as the Indians who saved the Pilgrims from starvation, and then largely forgotten, the Wampanoag Tribes of Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard are now saying loud and clear, and in their Native tongue, 'As Nuta...