Film Showing at Yale Aims to Break Stereotypes Around Mental Illness

A film that aims to change the way communities look at mental illness will make its debut at Yale University’s Davies Auditorium at 5 p.m. April 29. Judy Murray, an East Haven resident and founder of Dignity and Advocacy Network (D.A.N.), will be presenting at the event. She lost her son to suicide in 2014 after his long battle with what doctors diagnosed as Bipolar 1 Disorder and believes he was failed by the “medical model” mental health system. “It’s the whole approach that were using that isn’t working.” Murray said. “My son, he heard voices, he had visions, he was told that he had an illness and that he would have to ignore it, suppress it.” Murray said that while her son told her he did not think or feel he was ill, being told that he was over and over made him fall into invalidating his own experience.