Documentaries on Mental Health

The Wisdom of Trauma
Featuring Dr. Gabor Maté, this documentary explores how trauma impacts mental health, often leading to addiction and chronic illness. It emphasizes the role of compassion and understanding in the healing process.

Stutz
Directed by Jonah Hill, this intimate documentary spotlights therapist Phil Stutz and his unique therapeutic tools. It provides practical mental health strategies through an honest and personal conversation about therapy.

My Mind & Me
This documentary follows singer Selena Gomez over six years as she deals with bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression. It's a candid portrayal of how mental health challenges shape every aspect of life.

Cracked Up: The Darrell Hammond Story
This moving documentary highlights the comedian’s battle with childhood trauma and dissociation. It offers a raw look at how trauma can manifest as mental illness and the road to recovery.

The Me You Can’t See
Produced by Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry, this series features personal stories from public figures like Lady Gaga, exploring their struggles with mental health. It emphasizes breaking the stigma and seeking support.

Crazywise
This documentary explores the contrast between Western psychiatric approaches and indigenous perspectives on mental health crises. It offers thought-provoking views on personal transformation through mental health struggles.

Light in the Darkness: Living Well After Trauma
Following survivors of PTSD, this documentary highlights their journey toward resilience and healing. It focuses on the hope that can come from the support of others and effective mental health treatment.

Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness
This documentary delves into the challenges faced by young people experiencing anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. It emphasizes the importance of early intervention and mental health resources for youth.

The Social Dilemma
A compelling documentary that investigates the harmful effects of social media on mental health. It explores how platforms can fuel anxiety, depression, and feelings of isolation, making it relevant to discussions of mental well-being in the digital age.

Out of Mind, Out of Sight
This documentary takes viewers inside a forensic psychiatric hospital, following patients struggling with mental illness. It provides a deep look into psychiatric care and the challenges of treating severe mental health conditions.

Films on Mental Health

It Ends with Us
Based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, this film centers around domestic abuse and trauma. It follows the protagonist’s emotional journey to break free from an abusive cycle, highlighting resilience and healing.

All of Us Strangers
A 2023 release that explores themes of grief, trauma, and memory, this film follows a man reconnecting with his deceased parents. It provides a tender portrayal of processing unresolved emotions and healing from loss.

The Celebration (Festen)
This Danish classic explores the psychological effects of familial abuse. A family gathering unearths long-buried secrets, leading to an intense examination of trauma, denial, and confrontation.

A Beautiful Mind
This Oscar-winning film tells the story of John Nash, a mathematician living with schizophrenia. It offers a portrayal of how mental illness coexists with brilliance, and how love and perseverance can lead to personal triumph.

Silver Linings Playbook
A deeply emotional film about mental illness, this story follows a man with bipolar disorder and a woman coping with grief. It highlights the role of relationships and personal support systems in recovery.

Good Will Hunting
A story about a young genius grappling with trauma and abandonment issues. With the help of a therapist, he begins to heal, offering a powerful exploration of the importance of human connection and vulnerability.

Inside Out
This animated film offers a unique exploration of how emotions—Joy, Sadness, Anger, and Fear—work together in the mind. It is especially useful for younger audiences to understand emotional regulation and mental health.

Honey Boy
An autobiographical film based on Shia LaBeouf’s life, Honey Boy explores childhood trauma and its long-term effects. It’s an intimate and raw look at how unresolved childhood issues can shape adult life.

Horse Girl
This psychological drama follows a woman who begins to question reality as she experiences a breakdown. It delves into themes of mental illness, dissociation, and identity.

The Tale
This intense film explores childhood sexual abuse and the process of recovering repressed memories. It offers a raw depiction of trauma and how it manifests later in life.

The Babadook
A horror film that doubles as an allegory for grief and depression, The Babadook explores how unprocessed trauma can haunt individuals, showing how emotional struggles can manifest in disturbing ways.

The Father
This film depicts the disorienting effects of dementia, exploring how mental illness can distort reality and strain relationships. It’s a poignant depiction of a man’s internal world as he grapples with cognitive decline.

Girl, Interrupted
Based on Susanna Kaysen’s memoir, this film takes a deep look into life in a psychiatric hospital, exploring themes of mental illness, identity, and self-discovery.

Bo Burnham: Inside
A musical comedy special filmed during the COVID-19 lockdown, Inside is a reflective look at themes of isolation, anxiety, and mental health, balancing humor with raw emotional vulnerability.

Shutter Island
This psychological thriller follows a U.S. Marshal investigating a psychiatric facility. The film explores trauma, repression, and the darker aspects of the mind in a tense, thrilling format.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
A classic that critiques the institutional treatment of mental illness, this film explores control, autonomy, and the human dignity of those with mental health challenges.

Black Swan
This psychological thriller explores the descent into psychosis of a ballet dancer striving for perfection. It delves into themes of obsession, identity, and the devastating toll of mental illness.

Melancholia
A visually stunning film that uses the metaphor of a planetary collision to explore depression and existential dread. Melancholia is a haunting portrayal of how mental illness can feel all-encompassing.

Conclusion

These films and documentaries offer profound insights into mental health, trauma, and the healing process. They serve as valuable companions to the therapeutic journey, offering relatable narratives that evoke empathy, reflection, and emotional growth. Whether you're seeking to understand your own mental health experience or that of others, these visual stories provide a powerful form of emotional engagement and healing. Watching these films with a mindful and introspective approach can foster resilience and promote deeper understanding of mental well-being.