Crazywise

A powerful and persuasive documentary co-directed by Phil Borges and Kevin Tomlinson, Crazywise scrutinizes Western medicine and mainstream psychology's approach to psychosis, as compared to older cultures with a shamanic tradition. Borges films in Mongolia, Tibet, Siberia, Africa, and elsewhere, encountering individuals who hear voices and experience visions, and are mentored by seasoned shamans and taught to heal others. In every situation, the community belief is that without training and guidance, these people—who are essentially experiencing what we call schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and anxiety—would descend into despair and destruction. Closer to home, Borges and Tomlinson spend several years following the rollercoaster lives of a Redmond, WA, young man named Adam, and a Brooklyn woman named Ekhaya, for whom psychosis has been devastating on both personal and familial levels. Treated by numerous doctors who prescribed an array of medications, both Ekhaya and Adam struggled with side effects (including suicidal impulses) that masked but did not address the root causes of their symptoms. Their pain and tragedies are palpable, and it is a relief when meditation finally begins to help Adam, while Ekhaya accepts the guidance of a South African shaman—a woman whose trance-induced training is striking to behold. Borges and Tomlinson are not drawing a conclusion that Western psychiatry is bad, nor do they claim that everyone with a mental disorder is a potential witch doctor. But the fundamental questions raised and the cultural practices explored here are ultimately quite thought-provoking. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)