Mental Health Intervention

This essay discusses the themes in the documentary film 'The Bridge' and explores the concept of mental illness and resiliency factors exhibited by the clients. It also highlights the importance of understanding trauma in working with individuals with mental illness.

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTION
Mental Health Intervention
Name of the student
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1MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTION
The Bridge is the name of a Documentary film that is British American that captured
suicides and showed the interviews with the family along with friends of the people who had
committed suicide by throwing themselves from bridge (Youtube.com., 2019). This essay
talks about the themes in the film and about the concept of mental illness. It also talks about
resiliency factors that are exhibited by clients of film. The film also talks about concept of the
trauma in the event of working with a person having mental illness.
The main themes that have been discussed in the documentary, “The Bridge” relates
to mental illness and its consequences on the people. An important theme of the film is that
while a person can celebrate his life on the other hand another person might be facing a crisis
in his life that can plunge him into despair and cause him to take the fatal decision of suicide.
A crucial theme of the film is the juxtaposition of the celebration of the life and on the other
hand cessation of life (Grob, 2019). The film talks about how a critical incident in the life of
an individual can force an individual to become depressed mentally and how it takes a toll on
the mental health of a person. The film relates this by talking about the siblings of the
narrator called Lisa along with Merrin. The death of the father had a severe mental
repercussion on the personality of Lisa and it made her behave in an abnormal manner.

2MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTION
Mental illness can be termed as medical disorder and it takes place due to failure of
the internal mechanism of performing function. Mental illness is a health condition that
involves the changes pertaining to emotion, thinking or the behaviour. The concept of the
mental illness can be said to be related to distress when an individual cannot function
properly in the social and in the family activities. Mental illness can have an effect on any
individual irrespective of gender, income, age or the social status. Mental illness can be of
various forms- mild that interferes in a limited manner in the daily life and on the other hand
it can also be severe that can cause a person to take recourse to hospital services. Mental
illness can cause an individual to suffer from severe trauma that can compel a person to take
his life. The person decides to commit suicide so that he can escape from the pain that he
feels and end the drudgery of his life.
There are some resiliency factors that can be seen in the clients of the documentary
called “The Bridge”. The narrator of the film arranged for a dinner that would be attended by
Lisa so that she can get over her dire mental state. The resiliency factors that were evident in
Lisa in the event of going to the Mira woods when she was behaving in a normal manner
(Vigo, Thornicroft & Atun, 2016). Lisa looked into the freezer and she arranged for her own
dinner that exhibited the resiliency factors in Lisa. She was behaving in a normal manner
when she took the purse along with the jacket and left the place. It was however the last time
that Lisa was seen as she took her own life.

3MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTION
I would like to work with Lisa so that she can regain her mental equanimity. I would
like to treat the schizophrenia by combining therapy along with meditation. I would treat the
psychological condition of Lisa by providing her with every day support that can help her in
getting over her bad mental state. I think that cognitive behaviour therapy can be effectively
used for treating the mental condition of Lisa. Cognitive behaviour theory can be used for
treating Laura that harps on curing the behaviour of an individual with the help of practical
approach pertaining to problem solving (Park, West & St, 2015).
Figure: A clip from The Bridge
Source: Youtube.com., 2019
The above picture shows how misfortune in the life of an individual can cause him to take the
dire step of suicide. It is significant to know regarding concept of the trauma in the event of

4MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTION
working with a person suffering from mental illness so that the methods that are used would
prove to be suitable for curing the person (Goodkind et al., 2015).
The trauma should be understood in the proper light so that it can be addressed in the
right manner that can help a person in rising above the severe mental condition. The emotions
that I felt after watching the film is one of shock as I was able to know about the grim
realities of the life from the film. I came to know how misfortune in one’s life can cause an
individual to undergo mental trauma and act like a barrier in the path of progress of an
individual (Sánchez et al., 2018). It can cause an individual to face impediments in the
course of life that can deter an individual from the everyday activities.
Themes that are discussed in “The Bridge” pertains to mental illness and how it can
cause an individual to lose the mental equilibrium. The film shows that while one person can
be celebrating the beauties of life there can be another person who make take the fatal
decision of suicide. Mental illness is a mental disorder and failure in relation to internal
mechanisms can cause an individual to suffer from the brunt of mental trauma. Lisa can be
treated by taking recourse to cognitive behaviour therapy that can act as a suitable method for
curing her.

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References
Goodkind, M., Eickhoff, S. B., Oathes, D. J., Jiang, Y., Chang, A., Jones-Hagata, L. B., ... &
Grieve, S. M. (2015). Identification of a common neurobiological substrate for mental
illness. JAMA psychiatry, 72(4), 305-315.
Grob, G. N. (2019). Mental illness and American society, 1875-1940 (Vol. 5316). Princeton
University Press.
Park, G. R., West, A. G., & St, N. A. (2015). About Mental Illness.
Sánchez, J., Sung, C., Phillips, B. N., Tschopp, M. K., Muller, V., Lee, H. L., & Chan, F.
(2018). Predictors of perceived social effectiveness of individuals with serious mental
illness. Psychiatric rehabilitation journal.
Vigo, D., Thornicroft, G., & Atun, R. (2016). Estimating the true global burden of mental
illness. The Lancet Psychiatry, 3(2), 171-178.
Youtube.com. (2019). The Bridge | A PONTE - 2006 Full Documentary. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV-vQyVuLJA