All students, faculty, staff, alumni, and interested community members are invited to join a reading of Bedlam: An Intimate Journey into America’s Mental Health Crisis by Kenneth Paul Rosenberg.

Events

February 2, 2022 | 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. | Zoom

A Conversation about Mental Health with Dr. Rosenberg
View a recording of the presentation

Join a virtual presentation and discussion with author Kenneth Paul Rosenberg on his book Bedlam: An Intimate Journey into America’s Mental Health Crisis and accompanying documentary Bedlam. This event is open to everyone.

January 2022 | Podcast

From the Front Row: Talking about mental illness with Dr. Kenneth Paul Rosenberg

Listen to a podcast produced by UI College of Public Health students that features a conversation with Dr. Rosenberg. He discusses the challenges of creating work that could be seen as controversial in the eyes of fellow clinicians, the state of mental illness in the U.S., and individual/systemic level change that could improve the quality of care.

December 1, 2021 | 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. | Zoom

“Innovations in Urgent Mental Health and Substance Use Care”
View a recording of the presentation

Join a virtual presentation and discussion with Abbey Ferenzi, executive director of GuideLink Center. The center, located in Iowa City, is a community-initiated collaborative led by the Johnson County Board of Supervisors that provides easier access to immediate, onsite assessment and stabilization—outside of a hospital setting—for those 18+ years of age who are experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis. This event is open to everyone.

November 9 & 11, 2021 | Noon to 1 p.m. | C217 CPHB

Documentary screening
Attend an in-person screening of the documentary film that accompanies the book (you can also stream it on your own time–see more info below). The film will be shown in two parts over two days.

Free Books for CPH Students

CPH students can pick up a free copy of the book in N170 CPHB (Student Services Suite, first floor). It’s yours to keep, or pass it on to a friend when you’re done.

Book Loans for Faculty and Staff

CPH faculty and staff are invited to borrow a copy of the book from the college for a two-week period. Stop by the Communications Office Suite (S255, S257, or S259 CPHB, second floor) to check out a copy in-person, or email cph-communications@uiowa.edu to request a book loan by campus mail. Please return books to a member of the Communications team when you’re finished.

Stream the Accompanying Documentary

Run time: 85 minutes
Watch the trailer

Stream the film for free if you have a current University of Iowa Hawk ID. (Note: If you are off campus, you may be required to sign in with your Hawk ID and password.)

The film is also available for a fee on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, and Vimeo on Demand.

Through intimate stories of patients, families, and medical providers, Bedlam is a documentary that immerses us in the national crisis surrounding care for people with severe mental illness. Filmed over five years, it brings us inside one of America’s busiest psychiatric emergency rooms, into jails where psychiatric patients are warehoused, and to the homes – and homeless encampments – of members of our communities with mental illness, where silence and shame often compound personal suffering. The story is told in part by director and author Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, MD, whose own life journey has been profoundly impacted by a family member with severe mental illness. Please note that the documentary contains strong language and features sensitive subjects, including mentions of suicide.

Resources

Mental Health at Iowa: https://mentalhealth.uiowa.edu/

GuideLink Center: https://guidelinkcenter.org/

CommUnity Crisis Services and Food Bank: https://builtbycommunity.org/

NAMI Iowa: https://namiiowa.org/

About the Book

When Kenneth Rosenberg trained as a psychiatrist in the late 1980s, the state mental hospitals, which had reached peak occupancy in the 1950s, were being closed at an alarming rate, with many patients having nowhere to go. There has never been a more important time for this conversation, as one in five adults–40 million Americans–experiences mental illness each year.

Today, the largest mental institution in the United States is the Los Angeles County Jail, and the last refuge for many of the 20,000 mentally ill people living on the streets of Los Angeles is L.A. County Hospital. There, Dr. Rosenberg begins his chronicle of what it means to be mentally ill in America today, integrating his own moving story of how the system failed his sister, Merle, who had schizophrenia. As he says, “I have come to see that my family’s tragedy, my family’s shame, is America’s great secret.”

Dr. Rosenberg gives readers an inside look at the historical, political, and economic forces that have resulted in the greatest social crisis of the twenty-first century. The culmination of a seven-year inquiry, Bedlam is not only a rallying cry for change, but also a guidebook for how we move forward with care and compassion, with resources that have never before been compiled, including legal advice, practical solutions for parents and loved ones, help finding community support, and information on therapeutic options.

About the Author

Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, MD, is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association with a private practice in Manhattan, and clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the New York-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Rosenberg is also a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker.