_{THE MOOD SWINGS}

''Can you imagine the feeling of a community
just closing its doors on you?''

About

A short documentary on the stigma of mental health difficulties

Watch Trailer

Summary

Members of the Troy Social Club in Dalkey, Dublin, speak openly about their lives and how the stigma associated with mental health issues affects them.With searing honesty, they describe their own struggles to navigate the stresses of daily life while they shoulder waves of anxiety and drops in their mood.Those with a schizophrenia diagnosis discuss society's perception that they are a danger to others, whereas they see themselves as the ones at risk. Many of their friends have taken their own lives because of the difficulties they faced: emotional trauma, lack of compassion in society, poor mental health services, and the absence of purpose in their lives.The members share how they feel othered by a society that does not understand them. A thoughtless comment can set them back and make it difficult for them to face the world. Some people stop socialising with them when they find out about their diagnosis leaving them feeling hurt and alone.This documentary gives an insight into the other side of stigma; the reality of a group of people coping with their own challenges while living on the margins of a society that excludes them.

Contact

Conor O'Mahony

^Crew^{Camera - Michael O'Donovan}
^{Sound - Colm O'Meara}
^{Editor - Conor Fitzpatrick}
^{Producer/Director - Conor O'Mahony}^{Post Production - Gorilla Post}