It follows a year in the life of adolescents in the McGuinness unit in Manchester
The McGuinnes unit is in Manchester and deals with teenagers who are struggling with mental health issues
This week the documentary focused on 3 stories
Beth 17, who we were introduced to last week
She suffers with anorexia and depression
Crystal 14, who sees people and animals who aren't actually there
And Gillian 17, who we also met last week
She suffers drastic mood changes and was considered a danger to herself
Beth
Last week we saw Beth really strugglingAs I said in the last post, as first I thought that Beth was not that bad and some comments that you left said the same thingA couple of days later a friend of Beth's left a comment on my blog saying that Beth in fact had been on a medical ward before she was admitted to the unit to stabilise her weightRefusing to eat or to be weighed, Beth was threatened with being sectionedBeth thought that they were only trying to scare herBut they did in fact section herThis now meant that they could force her to eatBeth started to make slow progressShe started going in to the dining room and eating with othersShe made an appeal to get her section overturnedUnfortunately it was turned down and she was deemed too sickI don't know if Beth self harmed before she came to the unit but she started toIn fact it seemed that all the girls there didBeth described how all the bad feelings and thoughts went away as the blood trickled outEven though Beth was in the grip of this illness, her personality still shone throughShe was bright and bubbly and so prettyHer friend that commented on the last post said that Beth is now home and doing wellShe has returned to her beloved dancing and is going on holiday soonI hope and pray that she can over come this although I know chances of relapse are highMaybe the fact that there was an early intervention will stand to herI hope so
Then we were introduced to CrystalAt 14 Crystal was the youngest on the unitShe spoke frankly about how she could see people and animalsWe saw pictures she had drawn of themThey included a little girl and also ratsShe gave them names like 7 and 24So called because they were there 24 hours a day, 7 days a weekShe said the voices told her to do thingsThat she was afraid of some of themCrystal was adopted when she was 4 having been abused at homeIt was at this age that she first began to see and hear thingsShe settled in to her new home but the characters didn't go awayShe described how the voices told her to kill her adopted fatherTests were done and Crystal was deemed not to be psychotic and not a danger to herself or othersHer doctor explained that at the age of 4 she had invented a fantasy world to help her copeShe imagined this world so she could also choose to not see themCrystal was dischargedShe is now back at school and doing well
We first met Gillian last week when she escaped the unit and took an overdoseShe suffers with drastic mood swings and struggled to control her angerFor a lot of her stay she was being held in the acute part of the unitIt was distressing to see her being restrained and it happened quite oftenGillian had not spoken to her mother in 6 months and this was causing her a lot of distressEventually though they did make contact and her mother started to come and visit herThis seemed to be a turning point for her and she began to make progress
Gillian
I thought that the documentary was goodIt gave a good insight in to different mental health issuesHowever I would have liked to have learned more about their back storiesEspecially BethShe seemed to have everything going for herShe was pretty, outgoing and smartHow did she fall prey to this cruel illness?And I firmly believe that for everything we do, there is a reasonWe don't starve ourselves for no reasonThere's always an explanationWe also don't starve ourselves because we are vain and want to be thinIt's not that simpleIt runs much deeper than thatRestricting and the pursuit of thinness masks a whole host of issues beneath the surfaceI wonder what happened to Beth that compelled her not to eat?And it doesn't have to be this big traumatic event that triggers an eating disorderMore often than not it is a series of little events or triggersFor me it was a combination of thingsI was unhappy at homeI was a dancer and swimmer so my body was exposed a lotI remember every comment anyone ever made about my weight or shapeThey are all filed away at the back of my head under the heading 'Reasons to hate myself'The seeds of my eating disorder were sewn long before I stopped eatingOur experiences, especially as children, mold us in to the person we are todayWe look for ways to cope and unfortunately sometimes these methods are unhealthyAlso it was a bit unsettling watching kids who were at their most vulnerableYes, it's important to raise these issues and get people talkingMental health is still something that is whispered rather than spoken about openlyWe like to pretend that it's not thereBut the reality is that one on four of us suffer from some form of mental healthWe don't feel uncomfortable talking about diabetes or a broken armSo why do we have such an issue about talking about our mental health?So any of us are suffering in silenceToo afraid to open our mouthsToo worried about what others will think of usAnxious that people won't understand and think that we are crazyTalking about it is so importantIt's vitalKeeping it all in is exhausting and drainingAnd it does leak out in other ways
I thought that some of the footage was unnecessary
It showed graphic images of the results of self harm and I'm sure that triggered some people massively
Also showing young people being restrained was uncomfortable to watch
The documentary focused on all the dramatic incidents and failed to show that most of the time nothing happens and people are generally very bored
It did show some of the girls having fun but I don't think it accurately described the strength of the bond you form with other patients
I have huge admiration for the young people that were in this documentaryThey showed huge courage for speaking outThey also gave these conditions a face and I think that's so important
Did you watch this documentary?What did you think of it?