Inside Outside
Building a Meaningful Life After the Hospital
Free video order form here
Documentary film focuses on transition from hospital to community
(USA) Inside Outside: Building a Meaningful Life after the Hospital, a
new documentary film by ex-patient filmmakers Pat Deegan and Terry
Strecker, shows that recovery is possible, even for people who are seen
as severely disabled. People with significant personal histories of
psychiatric hospitalization are interviewed about their experience of
developing meaningful lives for themselves in the community. They
discuss their fear of leaving hospital and talk about the different
therapeutic, self-help, practical (housing, employment, transportation)
and spiritual supports they used to rebuild their lives.
According to the filmmakers, Inside Outside was inspired in part by the
U.S. Supreme Court's 1999 Olmstead decision, which states that the
unjustified institutionalization of people with disabilities is a form
of discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Inside Outside was recently screened in Toronto, first at the
Rendezvous with Madness film festival on November 17, and then at the
Recovery in Action forum on November 25. The Recovery in Action forum
also included an information fair and presentations by consumers, family
members, and mental health and peer support organizations on
recovery-focused projects. The event was organized by the Ontario
Recovers Campaign, which was formed in June 2004 to train, educate and
advocate for recovery-oriented programs and a recovery-oriented mental
health system.
For information about the Ontario Recovers Campaign, contact Brian
McKinnon at 416-285-7996, ext. 227, or bmckinnon@iprimus.ca. For more
information about Inside Outside, including how to order, see
