When Medicine Got It Wrong

Katie Cadigan and Laura Murray's compelling documentary traces how a group of concerned parents created a grassroots organization that changed the medical profession's—and society's—view of schizophrenia. Many post–World War II psychiatrists dismissed schizophrenia in a pseudo-Freudian manner: it was considered to be the damage created by raucous homes dominated by virago mothers. In 1974, however, frustrated families in San Mateo, CA, formed Parents of Adult Schizophrenics, with the goal of seeking a medically sound answer that did more than blame maternal pushiness for mentally ill children. Despite skepticism from the world of medicine, the activists managed to get first state and then federal elected officials to take them seriously. The battle was challenging, particularly when the promise of government aid for community-based care failed to materialize, leading to the mentally ill being dumped from repressive hospitals onto the unfriendly streets. It literally took a tragedy—schizophrenic John Hinckley's attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981—for the problem to gain serious research attention. Today, advances in understanding the brain and new pharmaceutical therapies have replaced the sneering notion that schizophrenics represent the battered results of dysfunctional families. Using a mix of interviews, home movies, and unintentionally shocking early “documentaries” that forcefully misidentified the causes of the disease, When Medicine Got It Wrong offers a shameful record of how an arrogant profession did more harm than good in this particular area for too many years—and also a valuable lesson in how ordinary people can change things for the better. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)