| Friday, 25 Jan 2002, 6:30 |
| Masks of Madness: Science of Healing |
| A new documentary on the orthomolecular treatment of schizophrenia. |
| Produced by Sisyphus Communications in conjunction with the CSF. 49 minutes, 1998 |
For the past year the CSF has been hard at work producing a documentry on the orthomolecular approach to mental illness, and the finished film is now ready for prime time. This documentry will be aired on television and is also available to the general public as a video. Masks of Madness:
Science of Healing chronicles the experiences of patients and health care profession als who went beyond the inadequacies of conventional psychitry to find their answers in or thomolecular medicine. Hosted by actor Margot Kidder who herself suffered from manic depression, we hear how she finally recovered using orthomolecular medicine. Other former patients participate in a roundtable discussion of their individual descents into mental illness, their extraordinary difficulties in getting answers from conventional psychiatry, and their final recoveries using diet, vitamins and a minimum of pharmacological intervention. Doctors and other health professionals recount their experiences as well. Abram Hoffer, Patrick Holford, Hugh Riordan, Hyla Cass, Bradford Weeks, Michael Janson and others recount for us their therapeutic methods, their professional satisfaction at seeing patients actually recover from the "incurable," as well as the political dangers they faced when incorporating orthomolecular medicine into their psychiatric practices. The major orthomolecular building blocks to optimal mental health are introduced in an understandable way with the goal being to demonstrate that yes, orthomolecular medicine is a real answer for people suffering mental illness and physicians who long to make real changes in the lives of their patients. This is a documentary which everyone, including health professionals, will benefit from watching. Available from the Canadian Schizophrenia Foundation for $39.95 which includes GST, Shipping and Handling Bruces' Comments: I'm planning on screening Masks Of Madness in my upcoming REEL MADNESS Film Fest mainly because it is surrounded by so much confusion. The Canadian Schizophrenia FOUNDATION funded it, they're very invested in the ortho-molecular theory. The Canadian Schizophrenia SOCIETY is cautious about it, to say the least. The Exec. Director hasn't seen it though and would respond if asked in writing... The Chief of Psychiatry at our hospital won't talk about it (hasn't seen the video) but the hospital refuses to give Dr Hoffer Sr. hospital privileges, Hoffer's patients have to divorce him to get served by the system at all. I've heard that psychiatrists that challenge the theory can be facing legal problems they don't need. The public sees glowing testimonials on the web and this film on Knowledge Network and yet there's no public discussion to discount the claims. People are making choices on less than complete information. I've heard Eli Lilly's rep give some credence to vitamin therapy, when used with conventional meds (something about the "free radicals". I've heard as many disastrous stories as good about people trying to go ortho-molecular. I see two systems running side by side, the mainstream not challenging the "wonder cure". I see a lot of sense in some of the notions in the film about allergies and physiological problems creating psych symptoms that just medicating won't help. I'm hoping to cut through the confusion some by, as we say, "increasing the discourse". |