This LibGuide offers various titles and resources to help you become aware of and supportive of your mental health and well-being. Some of these titles are feature films that focus on the struggles of coping with or overcoming mental illness. Others are more educational and aim to provide a sound understanding of what mental well-being is and how to maintain it through various exercises and treatments. In addition, we have pulled together some resources from other parts of the library and IU’s campus to present helpful resources for those currently struggling with mental health in the hopes that they are able to find the help they need. From this collection, we hope that you are able to learn about yourself and how to strengthen your mental vitality.
The following resources require IUB CAS Authentication.
Becoming Nobody (83mins., 2019) Becoming Nobody is the quintessential portal to Ram Dass' life and teachings. His ability to entertain and his sense of humor are abundantly evident in a conversation that brings us around to address the vast question of ultimate freedom. Becoming Nobody represents the core arc of Ram Dass' teachings and life: whether as Dr. Richard Alpert, the eminent Harvard psychologist, or as Ram Dass who serves as a bridge between Eastern and Western philosophies, he has defined a generation of inner explorers and seekers of truth and wisdom.
Coping with Stress (30mins., 1998) A certain amount of stress can actually enhance performance and productivity. However, continually high levels of stress have been linked to all of the leading causes of death in America, including heart disease, cancer, and lung ailments. This program analyzes the role of stress in day-to-day life and in overall physical and mental health. Sources of stress are identified, and techniques for managing stress are suggested. Information on how to improve personal communication-a powerful safety valve-is also provided.
Dealing with Postpartum Depression (16mins., 2006) Becoming a new mother is supposed to be a wonderful time of joy and fulfillment. But for many women, it can be a time of fear, shame and terrible despair. It's called postpartum depression, and it's more than just the "baby blues". It's a devastating condition that, left untreated, can have lasting effects on the whole family. Half a million women will suffer from postpartum depression in the United States this year alone - but surprisingly, most of them won't even try to get help.Join host Dr. Winnie King and meet a woman whose world was turned upside down by postpartum depression after the birth of her son. You'll hear how she struggled with this debilitating condition and how, with treatment, she recovered and got her life back. You'll also hear from one of the country's leading experts in Reproductive Psychiatry -- about the different types of postpartum illness, and the treatments that can help you overcome them.
Getting Help (25mins., 1998) Drug and alcohol addictions are not hopeless. This program focuses on the recovery process and the options available to those fighting addictions. Together with Shannon, Jay, Dave, and 15-year-old Erin, parents and addiction-related professionals discuss 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, medical and social-setting detox programs, the Minnesota model of rehabilitation, in-school education programs, the reasons for relapse, and the happiness and renewed self-esteem of recovering addicts.
Maintaining Mental Health (29mins., 2009) Like physical health, mental health needs to be actively nurtured-particularly as the tempo and complexity of modern living continues to increase. This program focuses on the subject of mental health at the personal level, offering suggestions on how to nourish-and, when necessary, reestablish-a sense of well-being. Maintaining Mental Health also discusses the crucial role community groups play in providing resources that encourage mental health maintenance.
Mental Health: The Basics (19mins., 2012) How we feel and the factors that influence mood and emotion are explored in this upbeat, animation-driven program. Viewers learn some symptoms and causes of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues, and the many ways in which people cope with these challenges. The concept of stigma is also examined, including a look at how negative attitudes towards those with mental illness may be changed.
Mental Health: The Individual and Society (31mins., 2009) For those who have never faced deep-rooted emotional or psychological problems, it can be difficult to see why maintaining mental health requires more than the capabilities of any one individual. While personal accountability remains an important step toward wellness, the complex demands of society do contribute to mental illness and create obstacles to healing. This program examines mental health at the personal level and in a social context. It discusses key processes for recovering and maintaining mental well-being; helpful information concerning depression and drug and alcohol abuse; and the importance of diet, exercise, meditation, social interaction, and community resources and structures.
Mental Health & Wellbeing: Your own Mental Wellness (4mins., 2020) Achieving and maintaining good mental wellbeing is important for all of us.This mental health and wellbeing training program details some of the conditions that signal good mental health and gives various tips and ideas on how you can improve your mental wellness. In this video, workers will learn: What is mental health. Several ways to accomplish emotional wellness. The importance of relationships.
Understanding and Dealing with Depression (18mins., 2007) This program explores and provides basic information about depression, its impact on work, symptoms, causes, and what to do if you or someone you know is suffering from it. Providing a wealth of statistics related to depression and its impact on all facets of life, this video explains the most effective ways of battling depression and the reasons it's important to reach out if someone you know is dealing with it.
Well into Your Future: Mental Health and Aging (Depression: Not a Normal Part of Aging) (57mins., 2002) Though aging has its challenges, depression and its frequent companion, substance abuse, need not be among them. This program dispels the myth that there is something inherently depressing about aging. It explores the complex relationship between depression, alcohol, and substance abuse, showing how knowledge of symptoms, family support, and early treatment can restore the capacity for pleasure and contentment in most seniors' lives. Interviews with spouses, family members, social workers, and geriatric psychiatrists are combined with candid, firsthand accounts.
Yoga: The Divinity of Grace (31mins., 2016) Yoga is the challenging study of consciousness itself, understanding one's body, understanding one's emotions, understanding one's mind and beyond that, understanding one's true self. Conquering the fretful disturbances of the world around, great thinkers researched deep into the self. This was an epic project, spread across many centuries. A science of life was developed. To help us to know ourselves better. To help us to attain the peace and joy which can be found within. Yoga quite literally means to unite our self with the higher self, which is in us and is all pervasive. It means to join the subject with the object. To do this, we have strip away the many layers of momentary sensory perceptions, which assail our senses. These keep us forever bound to the material world. Our perceptions must be detached from the external world, to look within.
Yoga Part 1: Mind and Body (134mins., 2012) This course will enhance conventional therapeutic approaches and provide alternative methods to treatment. Course content includes breathing techniques, muscle strengthening and re-education techniques for the entire body, as well as pain and anxiety management techniques. These techniques are geared for clinical application, rehab clients, wellness programs, and home programs for many others.
Yoga Part 2: Mind and Body (81mins., 2012) This course will enhance conventional therapeutic approaches and provide alternative methods to treatment. Course content includes breathing techniques, muscle strengthening and re-education techniques for the entire body, as well as pain and anxiety management techniques. These techniques are geared for clinical application, rehab clients, wellness programs, and home programs for many others.
During Covid, only IU faculty, staff and students can borrow materials from Media Services with a valid IU crimson card. Social distancing and face masks are required. Be sure to check with Media Services for hours. VHS titles are housed off-site at ALF, and can be requested via IUCAT. Suggested keywords in IUCAT: Mental Health*. Limit to film & video, dvd/videodisc, Bloomington campus.
An Angel at My Table (158mins., 2005) The true-life story of Janet Frame, New Zealand's most distinguished author. The film follows Frame along her inspiring journey, from a poverty-stricken childhood to a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia and electroshock therapy to, finally, literary fame.
A Beautiful Mind (136mins., 2011) The true story of a troubled Princeton mathematician who is able to overcome years of suffering from schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.
Being John Malkovich (113mins., 2000) A struggling street puppeteer takes a job as a filing clerk and discovers a secret door that allows him to enter into the mind and body of actor John Malkovich. For fifteen minutes he experiences being John Malkovich before being dropped out of the sky alongside the New Jersey Turnpike. After sharing this experience with an office colleague and his wife the three hatch a plan to offer this experience to others and charge a fee.
Black Girl (97mins., 1972) "Mama Rosie works as a school janitor to support her daughters, teenager Billie Jean and older half-sisters Norma and Ruth Ann. The family lives in a disheveled rental house, which they share with Mama Rose's mother, Mu' Dear and Mu' Dear's boyfriend Herbert. Although both the pregnant Ruth Ann and Norma have several children, neither is married or plans to leave the house. Billie Jean, who believes that a career as a professional dancer will lead her out of poverty and prevent her from suffering her sisters' fate, practices daily despite their resentment and constant taunting." *Container*
Black Swan (108mins., 2011) A psychological thriller set in the world of New York City ballet. An insecure ballet dancer wins the lead in Swan Lake but slowly loses her grip on sanity when a seductive newcomer is out to steal her role.
Full Metal Jacket (sensitive subject matter, content warning) (117mins., 1991) Vietnam war drama which begins with a depiction of the brutality of Marine Corps training and then shifts to Vietnam, focusing mainly on a group of Marines responding to the Tet Offensive of 1968.
Lars and the Real Girl (106mins., 2007) Lars is a sweet but shy guy who has a hard time talking with his family, coworkers, and neighbors. Although his family fears the worst when Lars brings home a life-sized companion doll who he thinks is a real girlfriend, named Bianca, a doctor encourages them to play along with him so that he can work through his delusions.
Melancholia (135mins., 2012) "Justine and Michael celebrate their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of Justine's sister Claire and brother-in-law John. Despite Claire's best efforts, the wedding is a fiasco with family tensions mounting and relationships fraying. Meanwhile, a planet called Melancholia is heading directly towards Earth threatening the very existence of humankind" *Container*
Neon Genesis: Evangelion (sensitive subject matter, content warning) (790mins., 2002) The year is 2015. As the remnants of the human race cower in subterranean cities, a deadly war is being waged for what is left of the planet. On one side are the mysterious beings known only as the Angels; on the other, the secret agency NERV with mankind's last hope, the awe-inspiring Evangelions.
Paranoia Agent (sensitive subject matter, content warning) (325mins., 2005) A group of troubled citizens are attacked by a strange boy armed with a baseball bat.
Pariah (87mins., 2012) Alike is a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents and younger sister in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. She has a flair for poetry, and is a good student at her local high school. Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity--sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward.
Perfect Blue (sensitive subject matter, content warning) (82mins., 2000) Pop singer Mima Kirigoe looks forward to a bright new career when she quits her chart-topping trio to become an actress. When she lands a role in a sexually charged murder mystery, Mima's life begins to fall apart. Reality and hallucinations merge into a terrifying netherworld where innocence is lost and dreams turn into nightmares. Quickly descending into a dangerous state of paranoid delusions, Mima discovers Internet sites describing every minute detail of her life. Helpless and afraid, she watches as her associates are threatened and killed by a mysterious stalker.
Still Alice (101mins., 2015) Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a diagnosis of Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease, Alice and her family find their bonds thoroughly tested. Her struggle to stay connected to who she once was is frightening, heartbreaking, and inspiring.
You Were Never Really Here (90mins., 2018) A traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe's nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.
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