Mental Health by The National Library of Medicine

Shows the pressures under which members of a large city police department work daily, and stresses the importance of handling any situation that may occur during a policeman's regular patrol routine. This police training film was produced by The Louisiana Association for Mental Health and filmed in Cleveland, Ohio with assistance from the city’s police department. It tells the story of four policemen and the pressures they face in their work on a daily basis.

Gene Kelly directs and stars in this wartime naval "training" film. Kelly plays the role of Seaman Bob Lucas, a troubled and angry "fireman" whose ship was sunk in battle. Many sailors died at sea, but Lucas lived through it and suffers from what now might be termed "post-traumatic stress disorder." After lashing out at everyone around him, Lucas comes to understand his emotions, and moves from illness to wellness, with the help of a wise psychiatrist. Kelly considered his performance in Combat Fatigue Irritability one of his very best. But no filmography lists it.

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss death and dying. This objective is achieved with presentations of interviews with clinical patients and hospital staff personnel. Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross stresses the need for hospital personnel to reach out to help the dying patient. In this presentation Dr. Kubler-Ross describes the five stages through which patients with a terminal illness go in order to come to a peaceful acceptance of their own imminent death. These stages are noted to be denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and finally acceptance.

This film, part of a series produced by the U.S. National Medical Audiovisual Center, presents a discussion about the role of the psychiatrist in criminal law, courtroom, and prison. Alexander Brooks of the Rutgers University Law School moderates. Panelists Dr. Thomas Szasz and Dr. Bernard Diamond take opposing views. Szasz argues that psychiatry is used to manipulate both the law and the defendant, and is not applied in any scientific way in the courtroom, nor can it be.

This formerly restricted film was intended to be shown to patients suffering from combat fatigue. A medical officer/narrator explains the nature of fear and how it helps the body and mind cope with threatening situations. Profiling a soldier named Edwards, the narrator explains how combat fatigue begins, grows, and finally incapacitates the soldier. Aboard a ship headed for the combat zone, Edwards feels excitement and tension. In the combat zone, he behaves as expected -- he leaves his ship, wades ashore, penetrates a jungle area, and fires at the enemy. He is afraid but not cowardly.

This film, about protective services for the aging, dramatizes the story of one recluse who, like many older people, attempts to be self-sufficient long after she is able. Not until she becomes physically disabled does the community have an opportunity to extend to her the various benefits now available for the aged. Twenty or 30 other older individuals are examined in the film, all in need of physical, psychological, or legal assistance.

Presented as a film within a film, an Air Force officer gives a lecture to a class of fliers about survival skills, using a combination live action-animated film to illustrate the workings of the body and its reactions to difficult situations. Discusses major physiological and psychological stresses that may be encountered in a survival situation in the Arctic, in the desert, in the tropics, and on water. Describes methods of detecting, understanding, and combating such stresses as hunger, thirst, cold, fatigue, and fear. Shows how to recognize and avoid dehydration.

Under light narcosis produced by ultra-short-acting barbiturates, patients re-experience emotions associated with psychic trauma and become more amenable to suggestion. The four examples are: 1) the effect of simple suggestion in choreic movements; 2) the effect of reassurance and suggestion in hysteria with hemiporesis; 3) the production of emotional responsiveness in a schizophrenic-like state; and 4) a severe case of major hysteria in an 11-year-old girl.

This film shows events in the family life of rural African-American families living on Palmour Street in Gainesville, Georgia. It illustrates basic concepts of mental health as they relate to family life and highlights some of the ways that parents influence the mental and emotional development of their children. Also addressed are the challenges for a household in which both parents work outside the home. Shots include: a health clinic waiting room, people dancing on the front porch, pea-shelling, communal outdoor clothes-washing with washboards and tubs, and other scenes.

This film examines child psychology through the story of a boy named Tommy Randall who has behavioral issues and has been caught stealing in school. The principal suggests to Tommy's mother, Mrs. Randall, that she send him to counseling. She reluctantly agrees, and she, too, speaks with a social worker about their home life. The counseling sessions are enjoyable and helpful for Tommy. The therapist and social worker suspect that Tommy's mother and his home life are the cause of his troubles. Mrs.