I was in a very similar situation. I had a mental break at age 17 (due to drug use) while in the psychiatric facility (still on said drugs btw) they falsely diagnosed me with bipolar/manic depressive disorder. They then put me on 2 different anti psychotic drugs, and I experienced some very rough abuse in the facility. Coming down from a very intense mystical experience and being restrained and drugged is terrifying. (I was not violent, just standing still singing) I have no memory of why i am in the facility. They will not tell me. Staff in these places often treat you like you dont exist or you are somehow sub human. It is terrifying. They will hold you down and sedate you for no reason, even while you beg them not to. It is a very dark place. I then got out fortunately and managed to get off my meds after awhile. I felt a lot better until my father found out and launched into a fit, he screamed at me for awhile and threatened violently to send me back to the mental facility. At this point I was 18 and clearly not displaying any symptoms. So he was aware he couldn't just throw me in an institution. I had to leave the house as the barrage from my father became more of an issue. I have spent a lot of time trying to heal and escape the prison of western "medicine". I have not displayed any manic or bipolar symptoms since. The cops were originally called due to me trying to give a hug to an elderly man. I was clearly in an emotionally distressed state, I was lost and the man had offered to give me a ride. In my confusion I was very greatful and thought a hug was an appropriate response. If you have children please dont force medication upon them. You will do much more harm then good.

Great talk. Studied psychology myself and completely agree. We put way to much emphasis on the problem instead of focussing on how the people can use their own strength in order to find a solution to their experience of malfunctioning within society.

Thank you, Phil, for your excellent talk and your ongoing work. One of the paradoxes I see is that while everyone has an inner healer it takes at least one other to listen deeply enough to bring that inner healer out in another. I also see healthy, supportive community as the foundation of mental health and is something we have lost over the last 60+ years due to multiple factors. Most of us feel like we are utterly on our own now. Francis Weller in his slim but powerful book, "The Wild Edge of Sorrow," discusses this and how we can bring healing to our communities. It's a great place to start the process of rebuilding our communities.

I'm not a young person - I'm 62, I've spent nearly my whole life trying to get the help and support that I need regarding my abusive childhood. I was recently referred to a 'consultant psychiatrist' here in the UK who is based in Bournemouth Dorset. I was referred to him for supposedly long term trauma therapy by the local psychiatrist at the CMHT in Weymouth who had already told me that in her opinion that medication doesn't 'work' for childhood trauma, (CPTSD). After 'speaking' with him a couple of times, he said that he would not even consider 'treating me' unless I was on a cocktail of toxic SSRI's - I refused the SSRI's, as in the past I've been put on these many times and they always made me ill, without any benefits to me - (they made me worse!) NOT ONE PSYCHIATRIST HAS EVER RECOGNISED THE EFFECTS CHILDHOOD ABUSE ON A PERSON!

My mother told me about this film and told me it reminded her of me. I can definitely see why she did because I cam relate to this so much.

Amazingly fortunate as an older person, when my later crisis came... by that time, I was myself..mid-late 50's... I had a steadfast group of friends. I had healed some major breaches with my parents, by that time long divorced, in their 70's and living on opposite ends of the US...I was married happily to a kind, supportive man. I had a pastor who was wise, hip and oh so caring. And, I got through those dark days.. In my 20's?? No such luck. All I got back then was patronized....given a list of referral phone numbers, a pat on the arm, sympathetic clucking and cooing...as they helped me out the door...

If you liked this TED Talk I highly recommend R. D. Laing's book "The Politics of Experience." He writes from what was in his time a radical perspective, and the first 1/4 of the book might seem kind of heavy. It is a beautiful and profound book on the same theme as this talk, however, and it concludes with a very powerful first-hand account of what would be termed a psychotic break. Check it out if you can find it!

i just watched this documentary yesterday and it was amazing. I am so curious what my ancestors did to treat mental illness.

im very onboard with this. my Autism, im 58 and just know of it for 3 yrs is like that. i have found a huge community of those who are tolking about their exeriances and i too am now helping others just starting in this jorney.

About halfway through this video, when he starts talking about the time when Adam confronted the relative, lost his job, became homeless. I'm hesitant to continue watching, because I sure as hope this man doesn't start dismissing Adam's childhood traumas. Dismissing peoples' childhood traumas is part of the problem and falls within the domain of psychiatry/the conventional system.

Hahaha! I freaked out when my awakening started. I even emailed Phil Borges. Hes a nice guy, he directed me to the spiritual crisis hotline

In our tribal rule we have a ritual for these people we rejoice and welcome them. M from India the far northeast arunachal Pradesh

since this is all a waste of time I started looking into alternative approach to healing. I went to a shamanic healer. So far I have got a lot more from this than any so called 'expert'!

How has this not got millions of views

my heart broke with this.

The guy with 8 of the 12 😂👍 for it be a true PD doesn't it have to be consistent over time in all senarios? Wow and he's got 8 of 12 busy dude. If he has multiple personality disorders. One of them must be multiple-personality-disorder. Thanks. I learned something. 👍

I consider myself a semi genius. Thank you very much =)

thank you so much Phil Borges

What year was this talk? ...I think it's great!

Trying to heal somebody with psychotropic drugs is like trying to repair a cobweb with a thread of wool.

So sad it´s not translated into spanish. Hope you traduce it to include other languages. Please.

Personally, I think childhood trauma - such is its damaging effects , causes the changes of biochemistry in the brain and that is why medication can and is helpful in treating the condition of psychosis . However it is certainly not the whole story . If the person with the medical condition can explain how they think they came to be sick ( not sure if "sick " is the correct word ) - it could be a history of one or more abuses / trauma in childhood as explained in the talk OR they may not have experienced any of that - and there are people like that - nothing psycho social about it - as long as a Psychiatrist/ Psychologist is willing to listen and take on board WHY the person thinks they are sick ( the expert may not agree with it - it doesn't matter ) and the person has a say about how they think they could be helped - then you are half way there. I am a practicing Speech Pathologist interested in mental health. My job is to help people write their narrative if they have no idea. I have had 6 psychotic breakdowns in my life and have been stable for 15 years .I became stable when I worked out what caused it - childhood abuse and trauma. The person must have a story about HOW they got sick - even if not technically correct. My son who has Schizophrenia Simplex and has experienced no childhood traumas or abuses has a different cause - that is genetic. My husband + my son's father has the same condition but to a lesser degree . So my son's narrative/ story is different - but he has one. In this instance, long term medication is imperative. My advise is WRITE YOUR STORY

THANK YOU!!!!

There are comments from people who just don't hear the message. Please, listen. From beginning to end, just stop whatever else it is you are doing, and listen.

I can't help but wonder if "Adam" in these talks has been dis-served by being documented, not medicated. It really seems so. Perhaps Mr. Borges should be encouraging medication, not documenting an un-medicated person.

Mental illness can be genetic or it can happen due to psychological trauma

Could you please public the web of the recovery movement?

The people who work on the DSM are involved in pharmaceutical industry.

Thank you so much i love you so much.

So we have no schizophrenia but we're shamans? I wish it's true. I have tried 8 Antipsychotics, but still have visions and voices. Lol

Can someone heal from LSD damage without medications ? I need Help Soo much but if medications are bad what can i do ? Can someone Help ..? What about homeopátich medications?

I guess the medical experts are drinking the Kool-aid...

YES YES YES, I AM THEIR, Paul.

Hmmm I thought Crazywise was the guy in the thumbnail's rap name or something

So what happened to Adam in the end.

People who need to be on meds are going to listen to this and stop taking their meds and be a danger to themselves or others.

Dont read the the one under neath first start with the one 3rd down thanks.