SHINING A LIGHT ON THE STIGMA OF PSYCHOSIS
WHEN actor David Harewood was 23, he had a psychotic breakdown and was sectioned and taken into hospital.
On World Mental Health Awareness Day two years ago, David talked about his experiences publicly for the first time on Twitter and was stunned to receive thousands of responses from people about their own mental health battles.
In this film, the star of Homeland and Supergirl
attempts to explore not only what happened to him three decades ago, but also to understand psychosis.
David, 53, says: “When we talk about psychosis there’s still that stigma. If someone is psychotic, you instantly think that they’re crazy, dangerous, mad, raving loony.”
He adds: “What happened to me is a period that’s kind of scary because I don’t remember huge chunks. I’m wondering what the hell it was all about. Maybe I’ll find some answers.”
David retraces his steps to key locations from his breakdown and meets the people who witnessed his spiralling decline, many of whom he hasn’t spoken to about his experiences.
He talks to his mum, his casting agent and his best friends at the time, who found him with a corkscrew-punched copy of Shakespeare by his side and took him to hospital, where he was ultimately sectioned.
David also spends time with combined emergency NHS mental health and police teams in his home city of Birmingham as they respond to 999 calls to treat people in distress, and he meets people who are living with psychosis.
He says: “Talking about these things can only shed more light.”