A group of university students sit in a sunlit room, laughing as they play cards, while in the courtyard some students play a makeshift volleyball game without a net.
It’s a common scene on any college campus, but it’s happening in an inpatient psychiatric unit designed specifically for students suffering from mental health issues.
That’s the focus of “One South,” a new HBO documentary that premieres Tuesday. Filmmakers Alexandra Shiba and Lindsay Megrue spent eight weeks on a ward at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, part of the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, talking to patients, psychologists and other staff to explore the youth mental health crisis.
A young man describes his first time on the George Washington Bridge and how he stood there for two hours contemplating jumping off. A young woman tells a psychologist that she overdosed not to kill herself but to get her father to apologize after an argument. A depressed international student whose grades are dropping finds herself in a spiral of anxiety and shame when her mother reminds her that her actions could upset her family.
What you need to know
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HBO’s new documentary in the undergraduate psychiatry unit at Zucker Hillside Hospital, part of the Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
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Number of young people In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of people suffering from mental health issues.
- The filmmakers and crew This documentary will provide a deeper understanding of inpatient treatment and that there is hope for these young patients.
“I think it’s really important to explain the theme of pathways to health and to highlight and show the public that there is so much hope for young people,” Laura Blader, a clinical psychologist and assistant vice president for university mental health at Northwell Health, who oversees the Behavioral Health University Partnerships program, said in an interview. Blader, along with other health system officials, made the decision to bring the cameras.
She said the filmmakers “really captured how amazing it was for them to learn and help each other together.”
Behavioral Health College Partnership The program was piloted in 2009 and now more than 95 colleges and universities across New York state participate. Students are referred through health and counseling offices or providers, and any absences from school are reported as sick leave. Most students are admitted to the hospital for seven to 10 days to stabilize them, and then a post-acute care program is created to provide support after they are discharged. The 22-bed unit has participants from Long Island and the surrounding area.
Viewers will see friendships developing among patients, individual and group therapy sessions, and the behind-the-scenes work involving nurses, social workers, janitors, security guards and behavioral health professionals.
Shiva said that while he and Megrue have worked on other projects focused on mental health, inpatient treatment – where patients live in a hospital for a period of time – is a topic that hasn’t been widely studied.
“People don’t really understand what’s really going on and what the process is,” she said. “We found this program and thought they were doing amazing work, so we wanted to get really involved and find a way to tell this story and demystify what inpatient treatment is like so people feel more comfortable asking for help when they really need it.”
Megrue noted that inpatient treatment is the “least understood and most stigmatized” part of mental health treatment.
“We’ve been reading a lot about the youth mental health crisis,” she said. “Alex and I are both mothers, and we wanted to understand more about it so we could be prepared as parents.”
Patients can request that the cameras be turned off during treatment, but many refuse to do so even in difficult situations. When a patient has an emotional outburst, the camera is moved away from them, but staff can be seen rushing to help. Their screams echo through the hallways and thick glass.
Braidar praised Siva and Megrue for the care and sensitivity with which they handled the shoot, and said the patients seemed more comfortable in front of the camera than some of the staff.
“This generation of college students is much more comfortable in front of the camera than other generations,” she says, “and they really wanted everyone to know that there was a place where they could grow, feel good and learn.”
Breider said he hopes viewers will come away from the film with a greater understanding and empathy for young patients and staff.
“Some people can go through the darkest times of their lives and then go on to live really happy, healthy lives,” she says. “People always ask me, ‘Why aren’t you depressed in your job?’ and I say, ‘No, because I see people getting better all the time.'”
