Educational Media Reviews Online

This documentary features a diverse group of six people suffering with clinical depression who come together for three days as a discussion group to explore the disease. The participants also question whether social conditions actually are an important factor in developing this illness traditionally thought to be caused from brain chemistry imbalances and genetics. The conversational journey travels from feelings of despair to a sense of empowerment as the group reveals, sometimes in anger, sadness, and finally a sense of hope, their experiences with therapists, their treatment, and society's view of the illness.

We Don't Live Under Normal Conditions uses innovative visual and sound effects as a backdrop against compelling printed research facts to help illustrate how the psychiatric community and pharmaceutical industry treat the disease as a biological illness. It challenges, provokes, and explores new ground for looking at how social conditions profoundly affect the development of the disease. The film also visits each participant two years later to inform the viewer of their growth and improvement as well as their new sense of empowerment as a result of the three-day session and additional changes in their lives.

Full of inspirational moments and challenges to the mental health community, this film will be beneficial for mental health professionals, especially psychiatrists and also for pharmaceutical executives. It is an intense, provocative film designed to expand our awareness of depression and to broaden our thinking about the causes of the illness. It is an excellent addition for libraries with developing psychiatric video collections and collections emphasizing treatment and causes of clinical depression. It is also a good addition for collections with information on pharmaceutical research. Highly recommended!