Manic

Produced by Fleeting Glimpse Productions

• "Poignant and moving, this is a gritty but sensitive dramatization...which conveys the far-reaching effect of biochemical disorder." - Booklist

Manic is a dramatized case study about the devastating illness known as manic depression and the chaos it can visit upon the lives of all those touched by it. Co-written by psychiatrist Dr. David Dawson, and superbly acted, the trauma of manic depression comes movingly to life.

Alan, a university professor, devoted husband and father of two teenagers, has started behaving strangely. As the story opens, he has disappeared for two days and appears to be in a suicidal state of mind. After consulting a psychiatrist he is given anti-depressants and seems to be responding to therapy, until at a university faculty party, he becomes aggressive, bombastic and crude. Further hyperactive behavior alienates his family and colleagues and when he loses control in a classroom the campus police intervene. Even when his behavior stabilizes, he has lost credibility and spirals downward into depression with tragic results.

This vivid portrayal of the effects of manic depression on a once stable and productive person will help students understand the significant issues of bipolar mood disorder.

American Psychological Association, 1994

47 min. Video or DVD. Sale $295. Video rental $65.