Essay On Drug

1. Summary
Brian’s Story is a documentary film about Brian Davis, who was an established journalist in the field of advertising during the 1980s. Despite his successful career, he revealed to friends that he is suffering from manic depression, which is a mental illness that is characterized by erratic mood swings. Far from the successful man that he was during his younger years, he became homeless, broke and suffered from bouts of depression and alcoholism.
Despite his conditions, the documentary revealed how the former journalist has plans for himself such as borrowing money and head to Paris to interview Roman Polanski. Yet none of his sensible plans materialized because he always ended up spending on alcohol. He would later be assessed for his mental condition and voluntarily agreed to seek treatment in a psychiatric hospital. While he tried to be enthusiastic about reforming himself, it is always a difficult process, and he remained to suffer from mental disorder until his death. The primary point in this documentary is that a) depression and mental illness are serious illnesses, b) people who are suffering these illness needs the full support to prevent them further deteriorating into hopelessness, c) there are social programs that can help people suffering from mental disorders, but often they are not sufficient to solve the problem.
2. a) The first main point of the documentary is that, depression and mental illness are serious illnesses. I agree with this main point just by looking at the example of Brian Davis. It is not easy to deal with depression and other forms of mental disorder. Brian Davis has a whole lot ahead of him being a Cambridge graduate and one who started his career on the right track. People who Fail to understand the complexities of depression and mental illness might say that Davis was too intelligent not to have overcome those problems. The fact is, he must have lived with the problem for long until it was too much to overcome. Davis must have been alone in his fight thinking that he will get over it anyway. In the documentary, Davis mental health condition appeared gradually and this must be the reason why he was not able to seek professional help early on. While there are people who immediately realized that they are suffering from depression, there are others who do not realize it earlier. Eventually, they are left to fight depression on their own, which is an almost difficult process.
b) The second point in the documentary is the need of people suffering from depression and mental disorder for the full support of family and friends. Allowing them to loiter in the streets, alone and depressed will further aggravate their condition. The unfortunate fact is that, sooner or later, their condition will deteriorate until help would be too late. The case of Davis is a good example, it is of my opinion that he must have been saved from further decline had he been treated earlier when he was not too dependent on alcohol. The help of close family and friends can help, in addition to the will of the person to seek treatment.
c) The third point in the documentary is that there are social programs that help people who suffer from mental disorders, but often they are not sufficient to solve the problem. For example, since he had been showing signs of disturbed personality, Davis should not have been allowed to loiter in the streets of London. It should have turned out better when he was taken for an in-house treatment, where he was not allowed to take alcoholic drinks while on treatment.