Tag Archives : mental illness

The latest Hollywood release The Soloist is based on a real life story of a homeless violin player, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers of Los Angeles and columnist Steve Lopez. Steve Lopez saw this violinist lost in his music on a pavement in Los Angeles. A chance pause and conversation between the two changed the life of both creative individuals. A schizophrenic [...]

US soldiers who fought in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder that manifests in various illnesses such as headaches, anxiety, sleeplessness, and chronic pain. Just as they heavily depended on their high-powered ammunition, so are they heavily dependent on prescription pills such as antidepressants, anti-anxiety [...]

On April 20 1999, teeners Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, armed with pistols, shotguns, rifles, and hunting knives, and went on a shooting spree that lasted 49 minutes and left 15 people dead. In the weeks that followed, the media were still in a frenzy offering various explanations as to why the [...]

Two days ago there was news of birth of genetically screened baby for breast cancer. It felt good that some diseases could be eliminated at genetic level itself. But this news of prenatal screening for Autism is truly distressing. Do we really want a world without spectrum of intelligence and personalities? Autism is not a killer disease! Everyone [...]

Many Hollywood movies have explored life of people with mental disorders. Some of them are about fictitious characters and some based on real life people who have triumphed against all odds or tragically lost their wars with demons within. This heroic tale of triumph or tragic failure makes Hollywood directors explore this dark world of human psyche. [...]