Bethel: Community and Schizophrenia -- now available on DVD or streaming on Amazon!

Thanks for the link. Due to your camera site, which I enjoy, I thought I would check out the film. It is really phenomenal, universal in it's message and impact, and I am glad that I stumbled upon it. Finally, my image capture device addiction has yielded something of actual value.

The Bethel house model reminds me of some French work in the 60's, but beyond that it seems very novel, in a very positive way. I think there are very hellenic / Eugenic ideas still floating around concerning mental illness, and at least in America, where a wage is tantamount to your identity, being found to have acute mental illness, makes people want you to disappear, and you end up wishing for that as well, which doesn't help anybody.

Thank you, and I am going to reccomend this to my facebook friends. If I had a blog, or minions I could point your way, then I would. Good luck, and thanks.

PS
The Amazon platform works well for watching the film, and hopefully you are right and more people will get to see this great documentary.

PSS
I am still worried about the girl with the tight skin around her face. It seems like she ran out of the meeting and we never find out what happens. Is she a casualty of the group? Thanks.

Dear Andrew -

Thanks for the kind words! I'm obviously very fond of the Bethel model as well. It's certainly better than the current status quo in the United States where many mentally ill are either homeless or imprisoned in the regular prison system.

Thank you for letting me know that Amazon streaming worked well too! I teach ethnographic film and it always pains me that students can't get inexpensive access to ethnographic and documentary films, so I tried to make the prices as reasonable as possible.

And finally -- the woman who ran out was of course very hurt by the comments that she smelled. But she and the other woman made up later and last time I visited, were close friends. It's a fine balance between being honest and being hurtful -- one of the policies of Bethel is that you speak what's on your mind and the fight was an expression of this.

Thanks again!

Karen