Documentary sponsored by Counselling Directory

Winner: Iraq: A State of Mind

BBC Arabic Documentaries

Over the last 40 years Iraq has endured three major wars, a violent coup, two invasions, a decade of bombing, two insurgencies, attack by the so-called Islamic State group and a sectarian civil war. Living through such relentless bloodshed has taken a heavy toll on the nation's mental health.  

Iraq: A State of Mind explores the mental health crisis that has gripped the Iraqi people, the stigma attached to psychological suffering and what's now being done to help. 

Shortlisted entries

David Harewood: Psychosis and Me

BBC Two

David Harewood experienced a psychotic breakdown when he was 23. Realising how much he'd blocked out, he decides to piece together his experience in David Harewood: Psychosis and Me by meeting old friends, looking at his medical records and going home to Birmingham. David also travels with a new combined NHS mental health and police team on 999 calls and spends time with inspirational young people who talk about their own experiences of psychosis, treatment and ongoing recovery.

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Dr Chris and Dr Xand Investigate: Mental Health Special

Maverick Television for CBBC

Dr Chris and Dr Xand Investigate aims to empower teenagers to deal with the social issues affecting young people. This one-off special explains what it's like to experience mental health problems and gives practical advice on how to cope and seek help. Young people ask questions and share their experiences of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and eating disorders, whilst exploring how social media and body image can have a negative effect on our mental wellbeing. 

Healing Minds

5 News/ITN, Channel 5

For three months producers Katie Goodman and Rachel Lucas and cameraman Mike Field were given access to Langley Green, an acute adult mental health hospital in Sussex. In Healing Minds the team follow the lives of staff and patients on the wards witnessing first-hand the challenges experienced by both those who work in the hospital and the people admitted there.

Louis Theroux: Mothers on the Edge

BBC Two

Louis Theroux spent time in two specialist psychiatric units which treat mothers experiencing serious mental health problems whilst allowing them to live alongside their babies. On the wards he meets women experiencing depression, anxiety and psychosis, often triggered by birth or the strains of motherhood. Following patients and their families, Louis explores the immense challenge in caring for two people in the most vulnerable state of their lives. 

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