Get to the bottom of the current mental health crisis in the U.S. with Independent Lens: Bedlam. Created by psychiatrist and documentarian Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, M.D., the feature-length documentary chronicles the personal stories of those suffering from serious mental illness to shed light on this epidemic and the possible solutions. Filmed over five years, Rosenberg takes viewers inside Los Angeles County’s overwhelmed and under-resourced psych ER, a nearby jail warehousing thousands of psychiatric patients, and the homes – and homeless encampments – of people affected by severe mental illness.
Focusing on the lives of three patients, Rosenberg highlights their chronic lack of institutional support while threading in his own story of how the system failed his late sister, Merle, and her battle with schizophrenia. Including interviews with activists, experts, individuals with a mental illness, and their families, Bedlam explores the rise of this mental health crisis on a national scale and the silence and shame that often worsen the suffering.
Independent Lens: Bedlam airs Monday, January 31 at 9 p.m. on WSBE Rhode Island PBS.
WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits high-definition (HD) programming over the air on digital 36.1; Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD; DirecTV 36, Dish Network 36. Live stream the full schedule within the broadcast viewing area at watch.ripbs.org/livestream.
